A Very Merry Mischief-mas
by Snapegirlkmf
Summary: It's Christmas time and Loki and the kids make the celebration merry and bright with shopping, baking, and pranks showing that the spirit of Christmas is more than just presents. Thor AU! Getting Away With Mischief verse!
1. A New Tradition

**A Very Merry Mischief-mas**

(a Getting Away With Mischief holiday tale)

 **1**

 **A New Tradition**

 _Reading books and eating chocolate seem like a fine way to celebrate the holiday season! ~Loki_

 _December 20_ _th_ _, 2017_

 _Laufeyson townhouse_

 _New York City:_

"Dad! Dad!" Belle yelled excitedly as she ran up the stairs to Loki's study. She burst through the door like she had just discovered the Holy Grail, her brown eyes shining. "Guess what?"

"What, little raven?" her father asked, looking up from his laptop, where he was fixing some glitches in his newest prototype for Asgardian Quest 2. His emerald eyes sparkled with amusement.

"I just read about a new tradition I think we need to have for Christmas Eve," his daughter exclaimed.

"Oh? Tell me about it," Loki urged.

Since he had adopted his nine children, he had found that they needed to create their own traditions on holidays as a family together. He encouraged this by suggesting the kids tell him what they enjoyed doing, making, or eating to make the day special. Asgard had its own traditions and holidays but most of them did not correspond to those on Earth. Loki had no objection to any kind of religious tradition, as he was a Norse god. So for Christmas they had both a Yule log in the fireplace and also a Christmas tree. They had boughs of holly and ivy on the mantle and mistletoe in the foyer. They had a Yule tree outside, which was a tree hung with colorful ribbons and each ribbon had a wish tied to it. It was a tradition in Asgard that on the twelfth night of Yule the Norns would pick a wish from the tree and grant it.

When his neighbors asked about the wishing tree, Loki just told them it was an old tradition from Norway.

"I found out that in Iceland they have a Christmas Eve tradition called _Jolabokaflod_ , "the Christmas Book Flood", where everyone gives a family member a book on Christmas Eve and you spend the night reading and eating chocolate." Belle cried rapturously. "So let's do that on Christmas Eve!"

Loki grinned at his bookworm daughter. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Does everyone give one person in the family a book, or should I give all of you books?"

"Hmm . . ." Belle thought. "Maybe you should give us all one and we can pick one of our siblings to give a book to also. That way everyone gets two books. Oh and we will all pick two books to give you."

"Sounds like fun," Loki laughed. "What a wonderful way to spend the night before Christmas."

"I think so too," Belle said happily. "Let's tell the rest of them and then we can go to Barnes and Noble!"

"Your home away from home," the Mischief God teased.

"Yours too!" she laughed and then they went downstairs.

They found Samantha and her two youngest siblings, Max and Aleta, decorating gingerbread cookies that Loki had made last night. He could still smell the lingering aroma of gingerbread as he walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Dad!" Samantha greeted him as she put icing on a cookie.

"Hi, Daddy!" Aleta said and waved about a small candy button. "Look! I'm making my gingerbread man have colored buttons."

"How beautiful, spark!" Loki said, examining the treat.

"Dad, my gingerbread man has hair!" Max said, showing Loki how he had made hair on his with some piped icing.

"He looks sharp, scamp!" Loki praised. Then he began to sing. "Run run run as fast as you can, you can't catch me cause I'm—"

"—The Gingerbread Man!" the kids finished, laughing.

"Those are neat," Belle said. "But guess what? I found a new tradition for Christmas Eve."

"What?" the small Laufeysons exclaimed excitedly.

Belle told them about the _Jolabokaflod._

All three of her siblings thought that was a great idea.

"When can we go to the bookstore?" was Aleta's next question.

"As soon as I gather up the rest of your brothers and sisters," Loki told her.

About half an hour later, the Laufeysons were all in the van on the way to the bookstore.

The radio was playing Christmas music, and "The 12 Pains of Christmas" came on.

"The first thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me—is finding a Christmas tree!" Serena sang.

"But Uncle Thor gave us our Christmas tree!" Aleta protested.

"That's why it's not a pain," laughed Hunter.

They continued singing the song.

"The second thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me—rigging up the lights . . .!"

"Mr. Mazur sure hates that part!" giggled Lucy. "He almost fell off the roof until Dad gave him a hand."

"He said a bad word!" Max reported.

"Don't repeat it!" Loki warned. Mr. Mazur had a salty vocabulary and the last thing Loki wanted was his four year old repeating some of the words the older man had said while trying to get his lights untangled.

"I won't!" promised his small son. "I don't wanna taste bitters!"

"Yuck!" his sister said.

For that was Loki's punishment for a child who used bad language—a drop of bitters on your tongue. It tasted terrible but did not harm the child and it served as a potent reminder to think before they spoke with regards to swearing.

"Didja make Mr. Mazur taste bitters, Daddy?" Aleta queried from her booster seat.

"No, hon. Mr. Mazur is an adult and I have no control over what he says," Loki replied.

The third verse of the song came on and Aleta asked," What's a hangover?"

"It's when you drink too much and get a bad headache. Like my mean mommy," Max told her.

"And you throw up." Lucy added.

"Or pass out," Hunter said.

"Like Uncle Thor did on Thanksgiving?" Aleta asked.

"He was doing Irish yoga," Max replied.

The older Laufeysons all burst out laughing.

Loki had to bite his lip hard to keep from cracking up and getting into an accident.

He couldn't refute what his kids had said though, for their uncle had gotten soused on Thanksgiving after drinking almost a case of beer and passed out over the back of the couch.

When the fourth verse came on about sending Christmas cards, Lucy said, "We did that at school. Miss Marin had all of us make cards to give to each other and our parents."

"I really liked the card you made me, Valkyrie," Loki said. He had hung the card up on the wall in his office. "I sent cards to all your uncles and your aunt Natasha and cousin Jo."

As the song progressed, moaning about five months of bills, Nate said, "Is it true you go broke after Christmas, Dad?"

"Uh . . . you can if you don't watch what you spend. Or have some kind of calamity occur," Loki replied. "Money can be tight around the holidays for a lot of people. Which is why I donate the most around this time."

Loki made so much money off of his best selling video game Asgardian Quest, that he could have bought and sold Manhattan. He did save a portion of what he made, but he also donated a lot of it to different organizations, mainly those who helped orphan children, or children with disabilities or illnesses, homeless animals, and the soup kitchens and shelters around the city. Thor also donated to the veterans.

"Dad, how do you afford all of us?" Hunter asked. As the second oldest of the children, he knew how expensive it was to have a family in the city. Especially one as large as Loki had.

"Maybe he magics up more money?" suggested Aleta.

Loki laughed. "No, spark. I can't spin straw into gold like Rumplestiltskin."

"Dad makes big bucks on his video games," Sam told her sister.

"Like how much?" Max asked. "A thousand dollars?"

"That's not a lot!" cried Vince.

"To a little kid it is," Serena said.

"More than that, imp," Loki said.

"Like a gazillion dollars?" Lucy guessed.

"Something like that," her father answered.

"Is that how you can afford us, Daddy?" Aleta wanted to know.

"Yes, spark. That's how."

As the woman groaned about facing her in-laws, Hunter said, "I'm glad we don't have that problem."

"What's an in-law?" asked Lucy.

"Somebody you're related to that you hate," Vince replied.

"Not always, daredevil," Loki chuckled. "The basic definition of an in-law is your family by marriage. And sometimes you don't always like your wife or husband's relatives."

Loki thought of Boda's relatives when he had been married and he could definitely sympathize with the woman in the song.

The song progressed and the kids and Loki sang along with it. When the verse came to the child whining about wanting Red Farmer for Christmas, Vince shouted, "That's you, Aleta! You always want everything in the store."

"I do not, Vince!" the little girl protested.

"Do too! And if ya don't get it, you have a meltdown and embarrass Dad."

"You better not do that now," Max warned. "Or else Santa won't bring you anything nice for Christmas."

Aleta stuck her tongue out at him. "You better watch out too, Max! You always need to go potty when Dad's in the supermarket."

"So? What's that got to do with Santa bringing presents?" her brother asked.

"Cause maybe he'll bring you a potty!" Aleta sang.

Max glared at his sister. His brothers giggled. "Yeah, well if you're mean, Aleta, you get nothin' but coal!"

"I ain't getting that, Maximus!" she snapped.

"How does Santa see what you're doing anyway?" Lucy wondered.

"He has scout elves that report to him," Vince answered.

"He has the North Pole version of Alexa," Nate replied.

"A magic snowglobe," Belle put in.

"No, he asks your parents," Serena announced.

The younger Laufeysons all looked at Loki. "Dad, is that true?" Lucy wanted to know.

Loki frowned as he braked for a red light. "No, Lucy. Because some parents wouldn't be truthful about their children. Santa has magic like the Norns do—he can look at a child when they are sleeping and know if they tried to be good or they just didn't care and were naughty. He sees their aura," the god responded, hoping that was a clever enough answer.

"I wanna ask Santa to bring Daddy a wife for Christmas." Max said, grinning.

"OMG!" Sam cried.

Loki nearly hit the car in front of him. "W-What?!"

"Daddy needs a wife." Max said, crossing his arms. "Santa can bring him one."

"Jeez Louise, Max! Santa isn't Match . com!" Hunter laughed.

"What's that?"

"It's a website grown ups go to meet each other when they're desperate," Serena answered.

"Is Dad desperate?" Max asked.

"No!" Hunter snorted. "The women are desperate to get Dad."

"He could still try." Max said. "Don't you want a wife Daddy?"

"Uh . . . eventually," Loki scrambled for an answer. The truth was he wasn't ready for a relationship. Especially not after being burned to a crisp with his last marriage.

But since he almost never spoke about that, the children didn't really understand why he avoided dating like the plague.

"Well... This is awkward." Sam laughed.

"Maybe Dad would like a new watch more?" Hunter said.

"How about a book?" Belle suggested.

"I already have what I want for Christmas," Loki said quietly. "I have all of you."

"We have you." Aleta said and cheered.

"That's right, spark. And guess what? We are here," Loki announced, pulling into the parking lot.

They all got out and followed Loki into Barnes and Noble. The bookstore was, as always during the holidays, crammed with people. "Don't let go of my hand," he ordered his small ones.

Max clung to him like a barnacle. "I won't. I don't want a stranger to take me away."

"Me neither!" Aleta said. "Daddy, can you carry me?"

Loki picked up Aleta in one arm.

"Dad, can I get some coffee?" Sam asked, spotting some of her classmates over at the café.

"You just wanna say hi to Parker," Hunter muttered and Sam socked him in the arm.

"Shut up! You dweeb, Dad doesn't know about that." His sister hissed.

"How long you think that's gonna remain a secret? Dad can read minds."

Sam rolled her eyes. "He won't need to if you keep flapping your jaw." She looked at her father. "They have a new drink I wanna try."

"Okay. But meet us back in the kids section. We'll start there first," Loki told her and gave her a twenty.

Sam went and joined the long line in front of the bake case. A few kids were staring idly at the sign advertising the new chestnut praline coffee. Sam slipped around them and tapped the boy wearing a red jacket on the shoulder. "Psst! Peter!"

The boy with brown hair turned his head a bit and whispered, "Sam?"

"It's me," she assured him.

"Is . . . is your dad with you?"

"Nope. He's gone on the other side of the store." Sam said. "What are you getting?"

"Uh . . . an eggnog latte."

"Really? Me too!" she exclaimed.

"Hope they don't run out. That happened last time I was here." Peter said. "But if they do I guess I can always get the gingerbread one."

"I was making gingerbread cookies before we came here," she laughed.

"I know. I can smell them on your hands," he chuckled.

"Does it bother you?" she asked awkwardly.

"No. Gingerbread smells like Christmas. Aunt May makes gingerbread cake with lemon icing on Christmas," he told her.

"That sounds yummy. Dad likes to bake too, but he's really busy this time of year so sometimes I do it with the rugrats for him," she laughed.

"I can't bake. I burn stuff. But I can taste test," Peter grinned.

"I have my brothers for that," Sam admitted. Then she added, "But I could always use one more."

Are you crazy, Samantha Laufeyson?! She thought. You just invited a boy over your house! Dad's going to have kittens and puppies!

Peter stared at her, his blue eyes wide. "Uh . . . you want me to help you bake cookies? Will . . . will Mr. Laufeyson mind?"

"Mind? Uh . . . well . . ." Sam floundered. "I know! We could always bake some stuff for the bake sale that's coming up tomorrow."

"Sounds good." Peter replied, grinning.

Sam exhaled softly, thinking, _You are good, girl! Guess you're not the Trickster's daughter for nothing._

The barista asked what they would like and Peter said, "Two eggnog lattes, please."

"You're lucky. You have the last two," the girl said.

Sam reached for her money and Peter stopped her. "No. My treat."

"Seriously? Peter, you don't have to . . ."

He just smiled and pulled out a ten and handed it to the cashier. "Merry Christmas, Sam."

She blushed. "Thanks," was all she said, but her heart was beating like a wild bird against a window.

They took their drinks and headed for a table in the back of the café. Sam was grateful now for the crowds of people.

They sipped their drinks slowly, then Peter asked, "So what brings you here on a Friday night?"

"We're Christmas shopping. My sister Belle came up with this new Christmas tradition from Iceland . . ."

While Sam explained, Vince, Lucy, Serena and Nate went to the Children's area as they looked at the books and Nate tried to figure out which book he wanted to get Vince. He knew his brother loved adventures books and looked at the titles when the sales woman walked over and he looked at her.

"Hel-lo. Do-you-need-some-help?" she asked as if he was an idiot and he rolled his eyes. He hated it when people did that and he arched an eyebrow.

"No thanks. I see what I want," Nate said as he pushed the button and the mechanical arm reached up and picked the book off the shelf. He tried not to smile as the woman gave him a stunned look and he moved the wheelchair to Lucy, who gave him a high five.

"We should report her. That was rude," Lucy said.

"Nah! The look on her face was enough for me," Nate said and they went to find a book for Serena.

Nate put The Lightning Thief into his backpack. Then he said, "I know a series Serena would like. It's the Sisters Grimm the Fairy Take Detectives. Think she would read it?"

Serena was dyslexic, but Loki made her practice using special glasses to read so she didn't let her disability hamper her.

"I think so," Lucy nodded. "That sounds cool."

"Yeah, let's get her that!" Vince said.

Nate steered himself over to where the series for third graders were and found the first book in the series. "Here it is!" He picked the red book from the shelf.

"Yes!" Vince said with a smile. Lucy noticed Serena was near the books for little kids as she walked closer and Serena looked at her,

"Want some help?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, I want to find something for Max," Serena said.

"Max likes Doctor Seuss books," Lucy said as they looked at the selections and Serena smiled at the book with fish on the cover.

"What about this one?"

"One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish? Oh, I love that one!"

"Then I'll get him that one."

"Let's go find Dad and show him what we found," she said and Serena nodded.

Belle was browsing the mythology section. She had read most of the books here, but occasionally she found a new one. This time, however, she saw a book called Wolves in Myths and Legends and thought Hunter might be interested in that one.

Belle tucked that book under her arm and went to look at the fiction section, hoping to find something for Sam.

As she was going by the R authors, a book fell off the shelf and landed at her feet. She knelt to pick it up. It was titled Bauldr's Tears: A Retelling of Loki's Fate by Alydia Rackham. _What's this?_ the young mage thought.

She opened the book and scanned the pages, finding it a compelling story that did not make her father out to be a villain or a buffoon. She was dying to read it.

"What did you find, little raven?" Loki asked, walking down the aisle towards her.

"Just a book I want to read," Belle said.

"Hand it over," Loki said and she handed him the book. Loki looked through the pages when he smiled and held the book against his chest. "Want me to get this for you?

"Yes, please," Belle said and he nodded.

"Need any more help?"

"I need to find a book for Sam."

Loki saw a display of teen books on an endcap. "How about The Hunger Games? Has she read that?"

"No, but I have," Belle laughed.

"Let's get her the first one," Loki said.

"The books are better than the movies," Belle remarked.

"They usually are, darling," he chuckled, picking the black Hunger Games off the endcap.

"Daddy, I want this Princess book!" Aleta called, running over to show Loki a Disney princess Bedtime Story book.

"Five Minute Princess Stories," Loki read the title. "Okay, spark. You can have that one." He put the book into the basket he carried.

Max looked at the books when he saw one called Loki's Wolves by K.L .Armstrong and blinked.

"Belle, look, it's a book about Daddy!" he said and she picked up the book. The book was a part of the Blackwell Pages series, but it wasn't for someone Max' age.

"Nate would like this, Max," she said.

"Yeah! I want to get it for Nate!" Max said and ran to Loki after she gave him the book back. "Daddy, I found a book for Nate!"

Loki took the book as he read the back and smiled.

"I heard about this series. It's really good," Loki said, looking at Max. "Good choice, Imp."

Max beamed at him. Then he said, "Daddy, I gotta go potty."

"Okay." Loki said. "Belle, watch these for me, please. Aleta, stay by your sister. I'll be right back." He picked up Max and walked quickly over to the sign that said restrooms.

Belle saw some books on a table labelled Staff Recommends and found one called Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. She read the back and saw that it sounded interesting and it was long too, which was good because Loki read very fast and needed a large book to keep him occupied.

She picked it up and tucked it under her jacket so her father wouldn't see it.

"What's that?" Aleta asked.

"It's a book for Dad," Belle whispered.

"Can I see?" Aleta asked and Belle showed her the book.

"Wow! It's got lots of pages!"

Belle smiled. "You know Dad loves to read like I do."

"Now we just need candy," Aleta said, and looked over at the round table where there were displays of all kinds of Christmas candy, from Hammonds to Godiva.

"We need Godiva," Belle said.

"Why?"

"It's really good."

Belle and Aleta walked over to the table as they looked at the selection of chocolates when Sam walked over and stood next to Belle.

"Have you picked your books yet?" Belle asked.

"Yep," Sam said with a nod.

"We're trying to figure out what candy to get," Aleta said.

Sam saw the box of Holiday Godiva Truffles. "This!" she cried, pointing to it.

"I wanna Santa chocolate!" Aleta cried, pointing at the Godiva Santa.

"You might have to share it," Sam said.

"Oh. Ok," she said with a pout when Hunter and the other kids walked over and looked at the chocolates.

"Whoa!" Vince said.

"See anything you like?" Belle asked.

"I like all of it!" Hunter groaned.

"I like the hot chocolate," Vince said.

"Me, too," Nate said.

"Well, you can only have one thing," Loki said as he walked closer with Max in his arms and they nodded.

Loki set Max down so he could pick out his chocolate and picked up the basket. "Did everyone find a book?

They all nodded. As they perused the chocolate, a loud howl came from a few shelves away as a child screeched that he wanted the Transformer Lego set.

The children winced.

"Uh oh! He's being naughty!" Aleta declared.

"He's gettin' nuttin' for Christmas!" Max predicted.

The child continued to throw a fit and Loki said, "Not only that but he would be getting Time Out from me if that were my kid."

They watched as the woman walked by with the kid screaming and trying to kick her and Loki felt sorry for her.

"He's going to get a visit from The Krampus," Belle said.

"I need earplugs!" Hunter whimpered, holding his ears.

The woman left the store as the doors closed behind her and Loki shook his head.

"Where's Serena, Lucy, and Nate?" Sam asked.

"Here!" Nate said as he, Serena and Lucy came closer. "Man, that was loud!"

"That kid was screaming loud enough to wake up Uncle Thor," Lucy said.

"He knocked over a display," Serena said.

Loki sighed. "I hope it's easy to pick up. Go and pick what kind of chocolate you would like."

Nodding, they went to pick what they wanted and Sam looked at Loki. She wondered when she should ask about Peter coming over and sighed.

"Just ask," Sam thought.

Loki eyed his eldest and remarked, "Something on your mind, butterfly?"

"Yeah," Sam said with a nod. "I was wondering if it's ok for Peter Parker to come over and make cookies. It's for the school's bake sale."

Loki blinked. This was the first time Sam had ever asked for a boy to come over. He hesitated. They're making cookies, Laufeyson! Not kissing on the couch, by the Nine! Finally he nodded. "Okay. Tell him I said yes. And he can take some home to his aunt."

"Thanks, Dad!" Sam said, trying to play it cool but she wanted to hug Loki.

"Dad, it's our turn!" Hunter said and they headed for the checkout.

As they all put their books and chocolate on the counter, the cashier asked if they had a membership card. Loki pulled the green card from his wallet and handed it to her.

She scanned it and handed it back.

She scanned the books and chocolates when she placed everything in two separate bags and handed the bags to Loki. Then she told Loki the total and he handed her his gold B & N Master Card.

"Thank you for shopping at Barnes and Noble and have a happy holiday."

"Same to you," he said and smiled at her.

The girl almost fainted.

As he was leaving he heard her say to her coworker, "Meghan, the hottest guy I ever met in my life just smiled at me . . .it's like Christmas came early!"

"Thank you," Loki said and they headed for the door. Max and Aleta held onto his hands after he handed the bags to Sam and Hunter and they headed for the parking lot. They stopped when they heard the sound of the kid screaming again and saw his mother trying to get the kid into the car.

"Man, doesn't he ever stop?!" Hunter said, cupping his ears.

Loki looked over at the woman when he walked over to her car and she fought to keep from getting kicked.

"For the last time, Jason. Get in the car!" she shouted.

"No!" Jason shouted.

"Need some help?" Loki asked as she looked at him and nearly fainted.

"You're... You're Loki Laufeyson," she gasped.

"Yes, I am."

"Whoa!" Jason said, calming down.

"Is everything alright?" Loki asked, looking at Jason.

"Yes," Jason's mother said.

"Are you sure?"

"I am sure. Jason is... He is autistic." The harried woman said, sighing. "He is overstimulated and he gets like this at times."

"I want my Daddy."

"We will go to him Jason, just get in the car."

He held out his arms for Loki. "Mr. Waufeyson hold."

"Do you mind?" he asked her.

"No," she said, startled. "But he usually doesn't even approach strangers."

Loki gently picked up the little boy who leaned his head on Loki's shoulder. "Hey, little guy. Are you tired?"

"Uh huh. I want Daddy." He mumbled, and sniffed.

"Okay but you have to go home first." Loki said soothingly. He patted the child on the back, weaving an elementary sleep charm as he did so.

"How did you do that?" The woman asked, her mouth falling open in shock.

"He was overtired. And I have two under the age of five myself so I've been there and done that," Loki replied softly.

"Well, thank you." She said and smiled. "Your wife must be a saint."

"I'm not married. I adopted nine kids," Loki replied.

"I have a lot of respect for you. Some days, Jason takes it all out of me." She replied. "He is having a hard time with the divorce."

Loki nodded. "I understand. Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is get out of bed in the morning."

"I so agree, especially when you just want to stay in pajamas. I'm Grace by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Grace. Let's put the little guy in the car. This cold is not good for him," Loki said.

She opened up the backseat of the car and Loki put Jason in the car seat and buckled it. "Well, I have to be going before my kids leave without me," he joked.

"Thank you again, and Merry Christmas." Grace said, smiling at him.

"Merry Christmas to you too," he said and smiled back at her.

"OH! Here is my card. In case you ever need am interior decorator... Or just want to talk about something other then Pokemon." She laughed, handing him a business card.

"Thanks," he said, tucking it in his pocket. Then he turned and went back to his van. As he was getting inside, Hunter asked, "She try to go out with you, Dad?"

"She does seem nice. Except for the kid." Sam groaned.

"He was really bad." Max said.

"No, she didn't ask me out. I just put her son to sleep for her, that's all," Loki replied. "He's autistic so I helped a little." He started the car and they drove home, singing Christmas carols all the way.

"Too bad, Dad. I guess your charm does not work every time." Sam said, helping him with the bags.

Loki laughed. "Believe me, I don't need a relationship right now, darling."

"Maybe someday?" Sam said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Maybe," he agreed. "If the right one comes along."

Aleta ran past him towards the fireplace. "Spark, what are you doing?"

"Tryin' to see how Santa can fit down the chimney."

"Not with a lit fire in it!" Lucy shouted.

"C'mere!" Loki ran and picked her up. "You need to be careful, sweetling."

"But how does he?"

"Magic, darling. Like I have," Loki answered. "Now let's go eat something because I'm starving."

'What's for dinner, Dad?" Vince yelled.

"Chinese," Loki answered. "We're ordering from Lu's Kitchen."

The kids all cheered and Loki thought their Christmas preparation was off to a good start.

"Don't forget the egg rolls!" Vince yelled.

"Would I do that?!" Loki teased and the kids laughed.


	2. Christmas Cookie Mishaps

**2**

 **Christmas Cookie Mishaps**

 _Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without something getting burnt! ~ Loki_

The next day was Loki's baking day, where he baked all the cookies he had made dough for previously and frozen. He had defrosted the dough the night before and was now ready to make shortbread stars, Linzer cookies with lingonberry jam, snickerdoodles, peanut butter chocolate chips, mint chocolate chips, pecan balls, and other holiday favorites.

The table was set with baking trays, bowls of candy pieces to be used for decorations, bowls of milk or butter to secure the candy pieces and tubes of icing. Rolling pins and cookie cutters sat on the rolling mats and linen chef hats sat at assigned places. Odin and Mischief eyed the table as Loki shook his head and they went to sit in the corner. The sound of the doorbell made him look at the door then heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"I'll get it!" Sam said as she ran to the door and opened the door. Peter stood on the porch and he removed his red and blue knit cap. "Hi!"

"Hi," Peter said and she moved back to let him in.

Loki finished tying on his apron which read **I Cook What I Want and You'll Eat It and Like It.** He made sure there were plenty of oven mitts and spatulas on the counter and racks to cool the cookies on also.

He glanced at the doorway as Sam helped Peter off with his coat and she placed the coat in the closet.

"Hello, Peter," Loki said.

"Hey, Mister Laufeyson," Peter said as he walked into the kitchen and sighed. He thought back to when he, Aunt May and Uncle Ben would make Christmas cookies and Loki saw the sadness in his eyes.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. Just missing my Uncle Ben. He loved helping Aunt May with the Christmas baking."

"You should have asked her to come help us."

"I did, but she had something to do."

"Well, grab an apron and chef's hat and we'll get started."

Peter smiled as he nodded and picked up the chef's hat.

"Sam, go call your brothers and sisters," Loki said and Sam nodded, leaving the room.

"Guys! It's Cookie Time!" Sam shouted and Loki rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"I could have done that."

"I know," Sam said, walking back in the kitchen.

The sounds of footsteps came from overhead as the kids came down the stairs and the door to the elevator opened so Nate could steer the wheelchair to the kitchen.

"Hi, guys," Peter said.

"Hey," Hunter said as he found his spot at the table and Loki helped Aleta and Max into their seats.

"What should we make first?" Loki asked.

"I wanna do the shortbread stars!" Aleta said.

"I wanna do the gingerbread men!" Max said.

"No! We do the stars first!"

Loki gave both toddlers one of his famous Disappointed Looks. "Do I hear children arguing over cookies?" he asked softly. "Because kids that fight don't get to eat the cookies I bake."

Max and Aleta gasped. "No! We'll be good!" his daughter cried. "You can go first, Max!"

"That's better!" Loki said approvingly.

Peter hid a grin at Loki's cleverness at getting his kids to quit arguing.

Loki pressed a button his phone and a Christmas station came on his Bose. While the music played, he rolled out some more gingerbread men and set them on the trays for the kids to decorate before putting them in the oven.

"What's my rule about the oven, Aleta and Max?" he called out suddenly.

"We don't ever touch it. Only you, Sam, Hunter, and Belle are allowed to," Max recited.

"Because why?"

"Cause we could get burned really bad or start a fire," Aleta chimed in.

"Very good!"

The kids decorated the gingerbread men when Max sat back and smiled.

"Look, Daddy, I made Uncle Tony!" he said and Loki looked at the gingerbread man decorated with red and yellow icing and some gumdrop buttons.

"Looks good, Imp," Loki said.

"I made Belle!" Aleta said.

"Me?!" Belle asked.

"No, from Beauty and the Beast!"

Peter noticed Sam had made a Spiderman gingerbread man as he tried not to smile and she gave him a shy look.

"Alright. Everyone back away," Loki said while opening the oven door and placed the first trays of cookies into the oven. He set the timer as they cleaned away the scraps of dough and he placed them in a bowl.

"Why do you save the scraps?" Peter asked.

"I make small gingerbread dots with them," Loki said and Peter nodded.

A few minutes later, the cookies were done as Loki, Hunter and Sam placed the cookies on the cooling rack and Loki looked at the kids.

"So, which cookies should we make next?" he asked, wiping his hands with the apron.

"Let's do the shortbread stars." Sam said. "They're fun but easy."

"Okay." He handed everyone star shaped cookie cutters and portioned out the dough. "You can decorate them with colored sugar if you like. Just brush the top with some milk first." Loki demonstrated, cutting out a cookie, using a pastry brush to brush the top, and then sprinkling it with red and green sugar crystals before putting it on the cookie sheet.

Afterwards. he made sure the oven temperature was turned down a little because the shortbread baked at a lower temperature for longer than the gingerbread.

The kids cut and decorated the stars and Belle used little stars to place their initials on some of the stars.

"Neat idea, raven," Loki said and she smiled.

Max put a smiley face on his cookie. "Look, Dad! The star is smiling!"

"That's very clever, Max." Loki chuckled.

Loki put the first two batches of stars in the oven and set his timer on his oven. "Okay, now shall we do the Linzers? I'll cut them out and you can put the jam on them. It's one teaspoon only. I don't want the jam overflowing or else it burns in the oven."

Loki used his special cookie cutters to make snowflakes and hearts and the traditional round ones. He placed the bottom cookie on a tray and let the kids put the lingonberry jam on them.

Serena looked up from putting jam on a cookie and cried, "Vince! Quit eating the jam! It's for the cookies!"

Vince looked up guiltily. "But I'm hungry!"

"I'll make you all peanut butter and lingonberry jam sandwiches," Loki said and summoned the peanut butter, bread, and another jar of jam from the pantry.

"Thanks, Dad!" his son called.

Loki made the sandwiches and used the cookie cutters to cut the sandwiches into shapes before putting them on a plate and setting out a gallon of coconut milk and plastic cups. "There you go!"

Peter stared at the tower of sandwiches. "Holy smokes!"

"I know that looks like a lot," Loki grinned. "But they will all be gone in a flash. So be quick and take some." He looked at his boys. "Guests first."

Peter took one of the sandwiches and placed the sandwich on the paper plate.

"You can take more than one, Peter."

Nodding, Peter took another sandwich when the boys reached for the others and Hunter handed one to Max.

"Thanks," Max said. The girls took the rest of the sandwiches as they ate and Peter admitted the sandwiches tasted amazing.

"I got to tell my aunt about these. They're really good!" Peter said.

"I'll send a jar of lingonberry jam home with you," Loki said and Peter smiled.

After they had eaten, they went back to making the cookies and Loki placed the trays in the oven.

When the Linzers were done, Loki had to let them cool on the racks before sprinkling them with powdered sugar. He then ate one and let the children each pick a cookie to have for dessert.

He placed the finished products on platters and then unwrapped the dough for the oatmeal peanut butter chip cookies. They were a drop cookie so no special prep was needed. As he began to do a tray and the kids did another his cell phone rang.

He looked at the caller ID and saw it was Derek, his CEO. "Kids, I have to take this. Just keep going until I come back."

He walked into the other room, answering the phone. "Laufeyson. Derek, what's the problem?"

"Sorry to have to call you, Sir, but there seems to be a problem with the art department," Derek said.

"What sort of problem?"

"It seems there are three different versions of the cover art and, well, one of them isn't family friendly."

"Hold on," Loki said as he went into the den and walked to the desk. He sat down on the desk chair when he powered up his computer and looked at the screen wallpaper. The photo was the kids making silly faces as he smiled then typed on the keyboard. He logged in to the company's main site as he searched for the art department then he looked at the photos the art department had in mind for the game. The first photo looked like the original cover art, but with the new characters included. He looked at the second photo and it showed the new characters fighting the new boss. The third photo made his eyes bug out and he leaned back in the chair. "Is this a joke?"

"No, sir, it's not," Derek said and Loki sighed.

"Who drew this?"

"It was some of the female animators. They said it was a joke, but it accidentally got printed."

"How many of the games have this cover?!"

"Only a hundred. We were able to stop them from being shipped, but we don't know what to do with them."

Before Loki could say anything, he smelt something and sat up.

"I'll call you back," Loki said as he ended the call and left the room.

Loki blinked down to the kitchen and saw smoke issuing from the oven.

"I didn't do it!" Hunter said automatically, because he was known for burning everything, including a tea kettle once when he forgot it was on.

"Calm down, Hunter," Loki said as he ran to the backdoor and opened it. The kids opened the windows while Sam turned the fire alarm off and Belle was calming Odin and Mischief, who were barking and hissing at the noise. Aleta and Max ran to Loki as he picked them up and gave them a hug.

"It looks like I had the oven on too high."

Sam and Hunter took Aleta and Max from him as they backed up and he carefully opened the oven door. He put on the oven mitts as he removed the trays and smoke rose from the burnt cookies.

Loki arched an eyebrow and said, "Well, Christmas isn't Christmas without-"

"-something getting burnt!" chorused Vince, Hunter, Serena, Nate, and Lucy.

"Aww! But those were my favorites!" Max pouted.

"Every cookie is your favorite, imp!" Belle laughed.

"But I really liked those!"

"Relax, scamp." Loki soothed. "We can always make more."

He cast an illusion charm to make it look like he threw the burnt cookies away but then Loki waved his hand over the burnt cookies and used his fire magic to remove the heat from the cookies restoring them.

Then he added them to the platter where some already were placed.

He placed the cookies in with the other cookies when they started on the chocolate chip cookies and Peter gave Sam a slightly confused look.

"Is it always like this?" Peter asked.

"Most days, yeah," Sam said with a nod.

"Cool."

Loki noticed how much fun Peter was having as he mentally made a note to include Peter and his aunt for Christmas dinner and poured the chocolate chips into the mixing bowl.

"Can we eat some of the cookie dough, Dad?" asked Vince.

"Fine, but only some," Loki agreed. He made small dough balls for all the kids to eat.

About halfway through the chocolate chips baking, Loki noticed that his youngest imps were struggling to keep awake.

"Aleta and Max, why don't you take a break and go watch Rudolph?" he suggested, knowing that once they went and laid down on the couch they would fall asleep.

"Okay, Dad!" Max agreed, yawning.

They ran into the den, and Loki turned on Rudolph from Netflix. The two small imps climbed onto the couch and shared the Got Mischief? Throw between them. Odin and Mischief came and jumped onto the couch and lay next to them.

As Rudolph began to play, Loki returned to the kitchen to supervise the rest of the chocolate chips being baked.

He turned up his Bose and the kitchen was filled with the sounds of Christmas tunes.

Lou Monte began to sing about Domenic the Donkey and everyone sang along on the chorus, giggling.

Loki had left the remote on the table while he went to check on his young mischief makers, and his black kitten decided to jump on the table at that moment. Her paw pressed the button on the remote and the station switched from a family friendly Christmas station to one that was more suited to adults with naughty imaginations which was also playing Christmas songs.

Eminem's song about Jingle Bells came on and suddenly the kitchen was filled with a song about "eating Donner and Blizten" and "roasting Santa's nuts over a big ass fire."

Lucy's mouth fell open in shock. "He said he wanted to EAT Donner and Blitzen!"

"And they were gonna roast Santa!" Serena gasped.

"Mischief, what did you do?" Vince scolded and the kitten trotted over and began drinking some milk that had spilled on the table.

Upon hearing the lyrics, Loki's head jerked around so fast he nearly got whiplash. "What the Hel is THAT?" he cried.

"Daddy, they said the A word!" a sleepy Aleta said crossly.

"Spark, put your hands over your ears," Loki ordered and went back into the kitchen, scowling. "All right, who changed the radio station to this-garbage?"

Meanwhile Eminem sang about "Have a drunk Mrs. Clause sayin' "Jiggle it, Baby!"

Give a new meaning to "Ho, ho, ho"

Shake that ass, girl, bumpin' booty in the snow."

"Turn it off!" Nate groaned, while Vince and Hunter began laughing.

Sam flushed red and eyed Peter, who gave an awkward cough and blushed slightly.

"Give me the remote," Loki ordered, holding out his hand. "This is totally inappropriate."

He flicked the button and changed it just before the song began swearing again. Then he put his hands on his hips and said in a tone dripping with disapproval, "So who changed the station?"

"It was Mischief!" Vince cried, pointing at the kitten innocently sitting in the middle of the table washing her face. "She jumped up and hit it with her paw."

"Did you do that?" Loki mewed, but Mischief gave him a bored look.

"I do what I want," she mewed and Loki arched an eyebrow. He gently picked the cat up when he placed her in her carrier and closed the door.

"Oooooo! Mischief is in kitty jail!" Nate said and the kids giggled.

"Yes, she is," Loki said as he dumped the milk into the sink and got a new bowl. He poured the milk into the bowl then put the milk away and placed the bowl on the table.

After checking on the little mischief makers, he saw they had fallen asleep and he turned the television off, kissed the top of their heads and moved the blanket up. He walked back to the kitchen as Sam removed the trays of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven and he smiled.

"So, what cookies shall we make next?" he asked, walking to the table.

"Peanut butter blossoms!" Lucy said. They were peanut butter cookie dough dipped in sugar and then had a Hershey's kiss placed in the middle of it.

They had fun making the cookies and then Loki had them roll the pecan balls and bake them then they were rolled twice in powdered sugar. He also made crinkle cookies and chocolate spice drops.

Finally all the cookies were baked, as well as sampled, but there were still plenty for Christmas. Loki fixed a tin with all the cookies and gave it to Peter. "This is your reward for helping me. You did a great job. And I want you and Aunt May to come for Christmas dinner."

Peter looked startled. "But Mr. Laufeyson, you have so many people already in your family . . ."

"Yes, and it's just me and my brother and the kids here to have dinner, because my parents don't live in the US," Loki told him. "I would be happy to have you and your aunt for dinner."

"If you're sure we wouldn't impose . . .?"

"Not at all. What's two more?"

"I'll tell Aunt May. She'll probably want to bring something," Peter chuckled.

"That will be welcome too," Loki said. "Now let's clean up in here and then you can go outside and have fun."

"Sure, Mr. Laufeyson," Peter said, and helped carry the dirty cookie sheets and bowls to the sink.

"You wanna wash and I'll dry?" Sam offered.

"Yeah. You know where everything goes," Peter said.

Loki went and opened Mischief's carrier, the kitten was asleep inside and he left the door open so she could leave when she awoke.

He arranged the cookies on trays while the kids cleaned up and then the children ran outside with Odin to enjoy the rest of the afternoon while Loki went into the den with a cup of cocoa, some cookies, and a book to curl up in his chair by the fire, inhaling the sweet fragrance of chocolate, pine from the wreaths on the mantle, and applewood from the log burning in the fireplace. The lights from the Christmas tree twinkled brightly.

He opened his book and began to read, listening to the soft sound of his little ones breathing , utterly relaxed. _There really is no place like home for the holidays. The Norns have blessed us all._ Tomorrow he would make one last trip to the grocery store to buy the last few items on the list for Christmas dinner. He just hoped it wouldn't be a madhouse. Then he would call Derek back about the risqué game cover and let him know what to do with them.

 **A/N: Hope you all liked! More to come soon!**

 **So who wants to guess just what picture was made for the cover of the game that was not appropriate? And what should Loki do with them?**


	3. Santa Stick 'Em Up!

**3**

 **Santa, Stick 'Em Up!**

 _The holidays are a time of joy, frustration, and attempted robbery. ~ Loki_

Loki woke up early the next morning, it was Friday, and after making everyone breakfast and sending his older children off to school, he decided to call Derek back and tell him what to do about the risqué game cover. "I want to auction off five of the covers and use the money we raise for charity," he told his CEO. "The money goes to The Autism Foundation of NYC. And there's a proviso. Whoever wins one of these has to sign a form that states they will be legally bound to never release this on any social media site due to slandering my reputation as a reputable game designer. They can show it to their friends but no pictures are allowed to be posted anywhere or else I will sue them for defamation of character, understood?"

"Gotcha, boss."

"We take down the names, addresses, cell numbers, and email of the five who win as part of the disclaimer." Loki added. "Hopefully that should work to keep this anonymous."

"Will do, Loki. When should this auction be held?"

"Tomorrow if possible."

"What do we do with the rest of the covers?"

"Shred them," Loki ordered. "I can't risk anyone getting a hold of one and using it to smear me. And have whoever came up with the design delete it from the database for the same reason."

"Okay. I'll call you when the arrangements for the auction are made. Are you all set for Christmas?"

"Mostly. I still have to shop for dinner," Loki replied. "How about you?"

"We'll go over my wife's in-laws house for Christmas Day. But we could always stop by Christmas Eve."

"All right. I'll save you some cookies and egg nog," Loki chuckled. "You already got your Christmas bonus from me."

"I'm using it to go on a cruise to the Caribbean after the holidays, so thanks. Maybe you should go on a cruise, Loki."

"Derek, a cruise with my kids would not be a good idea," Loki laughed. He could just picture the mayhem the children could cause on a boat. "But have fun on yours."

He hung up and went to tell Max and Aleta to put on their jackets as they were going to the store.

"Yay! What are we going to buy?" Aleta asked excitedly, her light up pink sneakers glowing as she jumped from place to place.

"We are going to buy what I need for dinner for Christmas," Loki answered.

"Are we allowed to pick out snacks?" Max wanted to know,

"Yes. But one each only. We have enough at home," Loki sighed. If he didn't watch them carefully, his two scamps had been known to fill a cart with snacks they "needed" to have before he ever made it to the checkout line.

"Ok. We will be good, Daddy." Aleta said and smiled.

Soon they had arrived at the store, which was packed with people. "Oh Norns! Must be a sale on something," Loki groaned as he helped the kids out of the van and then snagged a shopping cart. He put Max in the front and Aleta in the back. "Okay. Let's go."

He consulted the list on his iPhone.

The first produce item on it was asparagus, for the baked asparagus and onion au gratin casserole.

"Why are there so many people?" Max asked, looking around him.

"Must be a sale going on," Loki answered. "I forgot to check my alerts on my phone."

He wheeled the cart by the asparagus and picked up several bunches. All of the kids loved that dish.

"Daddy, what are you making?" asked Max.

"My baked asparagus au gratin." Loki replied. "Now, who can tell me what else I need?"

"I know!" Aleta cried. "An onion!"

"That's right, spark. Where's an onion?"

"There, Dad!" Max pointed to the onions next to the potatoes.

Loki put three Vidalias in the cart. "Okay." He pushed a button on his phone and those items were crossed off his list. "Now I need some potatoes."

"Do we need big potatoes or little ones?" Aleta asked.

He walked toward the produce, his mouth falling open at a display for cereal. Thor stood, his arms crossed, and several boxes were left of the cereal.

Aleta gaped. "Daddy! It's Uncle Thor cereal!"

"Oh Hel." He said, repressing laughter at the name of the cereal. _Thoreos._

Max and Aleta giggled while Loki picked out the box and looked at the photo.

"Shall we get some for us and some for him?" Loki asked.

The smiling face of Thor declared that the cereal would "Keep bodies and minds strong."

"Yes!" the toddlers said at the same time.

"There is a hammer keychain in the box!" Aleta said.

Loki nearly hit himself in the forehead. "Norns help us all!" he muttered. Then he smirked, imagining Tony's expression when he saw the cereal. "Mother of God! Please tell me they didn't make one of me!"

"Daddy should have it for his keys." Aleta said.

"Well, we have two boxes, so I can give Hunter one for his keychain collection," Loki said.

"Just your helmet," Max said, pointing to the back of the box. Loki turned the box around and saw there were three key chains. There was Mjolnir, Loki's helmet and the third key chain was Thor's helmet. Loki smiled.

Loki put four boxes of the cereal in the cart-two each for him and Thor.

"What if they're the same key chain?" Max asked.

"Doesn't matter," Loki said, placing the cereal boxes in the cart. They headed for the produce section when they stopped near the potatoes.

Loki let the kids help him pick out good sized firm potatoes..He placed the potatoes in the cart then checked his phone. He pushed the button as he crossed the items off the list and smiled.

"Now what do we need?" Then he got some crushed garlic. "Okay, now we need breadcrumbs, grated cheese, cheddar cheese, and one large ham and a turkey."

"Daddy, what about the cream of celery soup?" Aleta reminded him. That went in the asparagus bake.

"Thank you for reminding me, spark," Loki said and headed for the soup aisle.

Once he had the soup in the cart he went to pick up the ham, which was in large refrigerated cases in the middle of the aisle by the meat section.

He stopped short when he saw a large crowd in front of the refrigerated cases.

Suddenly the PA system announced, "Attention Shop Rite shoppers! All Christmas hams are now on sale! Only $1.99 a pound! Get yours today!"

"Oh Hel," he whispered.

"Ohh Daddy! A sale!" Aleta crowed, her eyes going wide as if she had won the NY Lotto.

"I know, spark," he said, trying to get by the case to grab a ham.

"That's mine!" one of the women shouted as she tried to grab a ham from another woman and Loki swore she was growling.

"I saw it first!" the other woman shouted.

They began pushing each other.

"Ladies, please, there are enough for everyone," the butcher said.

Suddenly a cart banged into his. "Move!" a testy old lady snapped.

"I beg your pardon?" Loki frowned.

"You heard me, sonny! Move it!"

"Hey lady! You is supposed to say please!" Aleta informed her.

"Daddy? That is not being good." Max said.

"Aleta, that wasn't nice," Loki said, though he agreed with his daughter.

"Yeah! Teach that brat some manners!" the old woman said.

Loki wanted to say something as he bit the inside of his cheeks and picked up one of the larger hams.

"Hey! I wanted that one!" she said and Loki slightly rolled his eyes.

"There's another one right there," he replied.

"Hey Grandma, you snooze you lose!" laughed a teenager watching.

"I'm not your grandma, you brat!" she shouted, shaking her cane at the teenager.

"Lucky me! I'd be moving to California!" the boy smirked. Then he sauntered away. Loki noticed he was wearing a gang logo jacket.

"Let's go find the turkey," Loki said in a soft voice and started moving the cart.

He followed the teenager as the teenager headed for some other kids and he saw they were all wearing the same jacket.

 _Nine Hells!_ He thought. _Those are the Bloody Skulls!_

He knew several of the gangs that hung around Manhattan because of Hunter telling him about them.

He needed to find a safe place for Aleta and Max as he looked around and saw the store's nursery.

"Listen to me," he said, looking at the toddlers. "I am going to put you two in the nursery while I find out what they're up to."

"Be careful, Daddy," Max said.

"I will, scamp," he promised. Behind him he heard the boys laughing as one said he wanted Santa to bring him a machine gun.

"I want some cash, man. So I can buy some good dope offa Larry." One hissed.

 _Guns and drugs, what a great present!_ Loki thought sarcastically.

They stopped at the door as the girl behind the counter smiled at him and sat up a little straighter.

"Hello."

"Hello," Loki said as he saw the teenagers walking away. "I need to drop these two off while I finish my shopping."

"Yeah. It's a real zoo out there today with all the sales going on."

She handed him the sign-in sheet as he wrote down his name as well as the toddlers' names then lowered them to the floor. He led them to the door as the girl opened the door and the toddlers went inside.

"Ooooo! They have Legos!" Max said as he ran to the play table.

"And A Year Without A Santa Claus!" Aleta said as she ran to sit in front of the television.

"Here's the pager in case we need you," she said and handed Loki the small pager. Nodding, he pushed the cart and tried to figure out where the teenagers went.

He saw a black leather jacket with a white skull bleeding from the eyes dart through the cosmetic and hair care aisle.

He slowly moved the cart when he saw several female gang members placing cosmetics into the pockets of their jackets.

 _Shoplifting too!_ he sighed. _Damn!_

"Gotta love BOGOs!" one of the girls said and they giggled.

"Yo! What are you doing!?" one of the boys shouted and the girls ran over to him. Loki followed them when he saw they were heading for the service desk and one of the boys kept looking around to see if they were being watched.

A lady with a small basket gasped as she rounded the corner. Before she could say anything, Loki touched her lightly on the shoulder. "Don't say anything, ma'am. They could attack you. Just pretend you didn't see it. I'll deal with them."

"Are you an undercover cop?" she whispered.

"Something like that," Loki said thinking _An undercover superhero._

"Well, be careful," she said and he nodded, watching her leave.

He frowned wondering what the Skulls were up to. Because they weren't in here by chance.

"Come on, man. We need some smack, I'm starting to twitch." The green haired boy said and scratched at his skin.

 _No, kid. You need rehab,_ Loki thought, all the while taking note of how many there were and what they had on them.

He noticed the leader was almost as tall as he was, but he was built like Thor and had a bleeding skull tattooed to the back of his right hand.

 _I take him out and the others will crumble,_ Loki thought.

He noted the telltale bulge of a knife in one boot. Loki shrugged. He would disarm him first. He would leave his own daggers in the InBetween. He only drew them when he meant to kill and he did not intend to end anyone's life here.

The woman behind the counter noticed the teenagers as the leader walked closer and slammed his fist on the counter.

"Hands where I can see them!" he shouted.

"What?" The woman asked, shaking.

The woman nodded, placing her hands on the counter and he tried to see over the top of the counter.

"Better yet. Stand over by the smokes."

She backed up toward the cigarettes when he smiled, but Loki frowned.

"Now kid, you don't wanna do this," began a man dressed in a Santa suit. "It's Christmas." He carried a leather satchel like a bank deposit one.

"Oh Hel," Loki sighed.

"Well looky here! It's the jolly old troll himself!" the boy hooted. "Santa, stick 'em up!"

"See what he has in that bag, Man," the boy with green hair said, scratching his arms.

"Santa, just give us the money!" snapped the leader. "We'll beat you up if you don't hand it over!"

"Yeah! Save all the toys for the little rich boys!" one of the other boys said.

"Please! This money is for charity," the man began. "To help kids like you."

"No one gives a crap about kids like us!"

"I do," Loki said as he walked closer and they turned to look at him.

"Whoa! It's Thor!" one of the boys said.

"No, you idiot! That's Loki!" one of the girls said.

"Are you giving me lip?!" he said and she cringed.

"That ain't no superhero you lame brain!" sneered the leader. "Where's his fancy ass costume?"

"I'm off the clock," Loki said.

"You'll be dead if you don't back off!" the leader said.

Loki arched an eyebrow. "Been there and done that. Now don't make threats you can't keep."

"You think you can take me?!"

"Shall we find out?" Loki queried. He jerked his thumb at the entrance. "Outside. Now."

"Mess him up, man!" the kid with green hair cheered and the other boys chanted "Fight!" over and over.

"Yeah! That watch will set us up nice!" The kid said, scratching again.

"Please! Don't do this! The money isn't worth your life!" Santa said.

"No one is going to die," Loki said, motioning with his hands toward the door.

"Is that really Loki, Tricks?" asked one teenage girl with spiked hair. "Thought he was bigger."

A blonde girl with half her head shaved nodded. "Yup. I saw him fight Kang on the Brooklyn Bridge."

"Yeah, that was me," Loki said with a bow.

"I'm Bloody Jack! And I'm gonna kick your ass back to Asgard or wherever the hell you came from, pretty boy!" sneered the leader.

"Well, that should be interesting." Loki said, raising an eyebrow. They were now on the sidewalk and the other Skulls began to form a circle about the two, chanting, "Fight! Fight!"

"I am going to enjoy this!" Bloody Jack said.

"Promises, promises," Loki drawled. Then he fell into his combat mode where he could size up and opponent instantly and figure out how to counter moves with his martial arts training.

Bloody Jack started circling him while the others chanted "Fight! Fight!" and Loki noticed he kept looking down at his boot.

"Going for your knife?" Loki asked.

"Maybe," Jack said.

"Never draw a weapon unless you know how to use it," Loki lectured, sounding like his old martial arts teacher.

"Oh, he knows how to use it!" the boy with green hair said and the other boys laughed.

Loki watched Jack as the boy swung his fist at him, telegraphing his intent as if he held up a sign. Loki grabbed the boy's wrist easily, pulling him in close. Jack gasped when Loki rammed his elbow into Jack's side and dodged out of the way.

The boy swore at him and went for the knife in his boot.

There was a flash of metal as Jack lunged at Loki with the knife in his fist.

Loki glided away like oil on water and his hand flashed out, chopping Jack's wrist.

Jack screamed as the knife fell to the ground and Loki promptly kicked Jack's legs out from under him.

"You broke my wrist, man!"

"Not broken. Sprained. I warned you."

Jack got back up as he held his wrist against his chest and the others cheered his name.

"Ready to give up?" Loki asked.

In answer the boy gave him the finger.

Sighing, Loki returned to his fighting stance and held out his right hand, wiggling two fingers at him.

Growling, Jack charged at Loki then ran right through him and crashed into the boy with green hair.

"Over here," Loki said and Jack turned to see him standing behind him.

"How'd he do that?!" Spikey Hair asked.

"Whoa!" the girls said at the same time and Jack glared at them.

"Magic!" Loki said as Jack ran at him and Loki slammed his fist into Jack's stomach. He knew he had to be careful with how hard he hit Jack as he watched Jack fall to his knees. Jack vomited as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and slowly stood up.

"Had enough now?" Loki demanded.

"I am going to kill you!" Jack shouted when the sounds of sirens filled the air and Loki folded his arms over his chest.

"No! Not the cops!" the boy with green hair shouted.

"Leg it!" one of the girls said. They started to run when Loki waved his hand and they became frozen to the spot.

Loki cast a spell to take himself and the teenagers out of time, enough so he could impart the message he needed without any interference from New York's finest. He wasn't surprised the police had been called, but he was surprised they had responded so quickly. He felt the shimmer of the magic take effect, then he said calmly, "You aren't going anywhere just yet. Are you ready to listen to me?" He used the same soft authoritative tone he did when scolding his children, and as always it made the teenagers pay attention.

"You ain't got nothing to say I wanna hear!" Jack said belligerently.

"I'd wait and see what I have to say first," Loki replied. He looked at the other Skulls. "Why were you robbing a grocery store and a Salvation Army Santa?"

"We needed the money," a skinny boy replied.

"For what? Guns and drugs?" Loki queried.

"No. Only Crash and Tito do smack." the other answered. "Gideon and I wanted money to give our mom and dad so they could buy presents for our kid brothers and sisters."

"Your parents know you run with the Skulls?" Loki frowned.

"Aww hell no! They think it's just a club after school," the skinny boy replied. "My dad would kill me if he knew what we was really doin'. Only he works sixteen hour shifts over at Port Authority so he ain't home much."

Loki could tell the boy was not lying.

He eyed the girls who had been shoplifting the cosmetics. "You two will put back whatever you took. Stealing isn't going to get you anywhere but in juvie."

"Why do you care anyhow?" Tricks asked.

"Because I've seen where this leads and trust me, you don't want to go there," Loki answered. "You have choices now that you may not later on if you continue down this path." His gaze swung over to Crash, the green haired boy.

"I'm sick!" The boy said, shivering with withdrawls.

"Yes, because the stuff you're taking is poison. You're going to kill yourself if you don't stop," Loki said bluntly. "Fifteen is too young to end up a statistic." His eyes met those of the desperate boy and he used every ounce of persuasion he possessed in his next words. "I want you to go and get help. There is a free clinic at this address." He stuck a piece of paper in the boy's pocket. "They won't ask any personal questions, but the docs there will help you. This is what I mean about choices. The drugs don't free, they trap. Choose to free yourself from them. You belong in school, not dead in some alley. Understand?"

The boy blinked, and Loki could tell he had reached the impressionable boy. "I . . . okay. I'll do it. You sure they won't charge me anything?"

"Yes. It's free." Loki assured him.

"I feel sick now man."

"I will send you there now," Loki decided, fearing the boy would not make it on his own. He concentrated and gestured and the boy vanished.

"Where'd he go?"

"To Fourth Street Clinic," Loki answered, giving them the address. "You can visit him in a day or two if the docs say so."

Loki gazed at Jack, who glared at him unrepentantly.

"You ain't fooling me with your fancy talk," the boy snapped. "I got nobody and I ain't goin' back to Four Square." He named one of the larger orphanage/reform centers in the city.

"Then might I suggest an alternative?" Loki said. "Go to Second Chance instead."

Jack paled. "That's even worse! That scumbag Grimes is there."

"Not any longer. He's in jail and it's under new management." Loki replied. "You will be able to get three meals a day there and they will give you clothes."

"What do I gotta do for it?" Jack asked suspiciously.

"Go to school. And stay there," Loki answered. "Whatever you were won't be held against you."

"Don't do it, Jack." One of the girls said. "These rich guys lie all the time."

"I'm not." Loki said evenly. "With an education you can do anything. Without one you will be stuck where you are now. But it's up to you. I will make you a deal. Try it for a week. No strings. You don't like it, you can walk away. You lose nothing. Or are you too afraid?" Loki challenged.

Jack bristled. "I'm not afraid of anything, Mr. Norse God!"

"Then we have a deal?" Loki asked.

Jack nodded. "A week. Then I can leave?"

"If you want." Loki was betting the kid wouldn't once he found out that things weren't so bad at Second Chance.

"Okay. But I still run the Skulls."

"Fine. But no more robbing anyone. Or else I'll let the cops have you." Loki warned.

"And Crash will be ok?" one of the girls asked. Loki wondered if she was Crash's girlfriend and he gave her a smile.

"Yes, he'll be fine."

"What-what are you going to do to us?" one of the smaller boys whined.

"Nothing. I don't hurt children." He pulled out his wallet. "Take this. Go and have a Merry Christmas. If you need a meal or a bed, go to Grace Street Mission on the corner of Fifty-first and Grace." He gave all of the children two hundred dollars.

"Why do you care?" Jack demanded staring at the money Loki put in his pocket.

"Because everyone deserves a second chance." Loki replied.

He cancelled the freeze spell and brought them back from the time halt spell. "Go back and buy what you stole," he told the girls.

"Yes, sir," the girls said and returned to the store. The others scattered as sirens wailed closer.

One boy glanced back and called over his shoulder, "Thanks, Loki."

"Behave. Or next time I won't be so nice," Loki warned, and watched them all leave.

A brush of air overhead made him look up as Loki saw Iron Man floating overhead and Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow were sitting on hover cycles.

"Hey, Jarvis got a nine one one call about a robbery and that you were involved," Tony said, gliding down to the ground.

"And you thought the store was being robbed by Ultron?!" Loki teased and Tony snorted a laugh, rolling his eyes.

"No, but you know how these things can get messy," Steve said after landing the hover cycle.

"Just tell me you didn't call..."

A roar of thunder made Loki put his face in his hands and Thor landed with a loud thud.

"You really gotta work on that landing, brother," Loki groaned. "You nearly put a hole in the sidewalk."

"Is everything alright, brother?!" Thor asked.

"Yes, everything's fine."

"Daddy!" Max shouted as he and Aleta ran out of the store and headed for him.

"What are you two doing out here? I left you in the nursery," Loki asked, kneeling down.

"We were, but the lady left the door open after someone told her the Avengers were here!" Aleta said and smiled at Tony. "Hi, Uncle Tony."

"Hey, kid," Tony said.

"Daddy, did you get those bad people who scared Santa?" Max asked.

"What bad people?" Steve asked.

"I took care of it, imp," Loki answered. "Those kids won't be doing that anymore."

"Come on, Reindeer Games, what happened?" Tony asked. Sighing, Loki picked the kids up as they headed for the store and he explained. "Glad you were able to get them to listen."

"I hope they do listen," Loki said with a sigh.

"Daddy, did you get everything on the list?" Aleta said.

"The list?! Hel, I forgot!"

Loki looked toward the service desk when he saw the cart was now parked next to it and the woman behind the desk smiled at him.

"Thought you'd still be needing this," she said as he approached and laughed softly.

"Thank you," Loki said.

"Thank _you_ ," she said and he nodded.

"Want some help finishing up?" Thor asked, now dressed in a red hoodie, jeans and carrying Mjolnir disguised as a cane.

"Sure," Loki said and divided the list.

"Dad, you said we can get one snack," Max reminded him.

"Let's pick one out," Loki said.

Max pointed to a display of Goldfish. "Look! Superhero Goldfish!"

"I want those, too!" Aleta said.

Loki placed two bags into the cart when Max noticed the toy car display and one of the cars had horns like Loki's helmet.

"Daddy! Look! That car's got horns!" Max said.

Loki took the package off the hook as he looked at the car and his picture was right above the car.

"I thought you had this one, Imp," Loki said.

"I did, but Nate accidentally ran over it with his wheelchair. The horns got squashed."

"I'll fix it when we get home."

"Daddy, maybe we can get some things for the toy drive box. I saw it by the door," Aleta said.

"That is a great idea, spark," he said and they helped him pick out some toys.

After the list was completed, Loki led the cart to the register and saw Tony, Steve, Natasha, Clint and Thor standing in line.

"Did you get everything?" Loki asked.

"Yep," Tony said and Loki checked the carts.

"Where's Uncle Bruce?" Max asked.

"Yes, where is he?" Loki asked.

"He was in the middle of an experiment," Tony said and Loki nodded.

"Said something about making the perfect eggnog recipe," Clint said with a shrug.

"By the Nine," Loki sighed. The last time Bruce made eggnog, they were hungover for nearly a week.

"Excuse me," made Loki look to his right when he saw three teenage girls standing there and he tilted his head to one side.

"May I help you?" Loki asked.

"Yeah. See, that's my mom," one of the girls said as she pointed to the lady behind the service desk. "If you hadn't stopped those jerks..."

"Yes," he said with a nod.

"Well, could we have a picture?" the other girl said. With a shrug, Loki stood in between the girls as the first girl used her phone to take a photo then thanked him.

"That was nice, Daddy," Aleta said.

"Whoa! It's Captain America!" a man in the next line said and Steve smiled.

"Can we have a photo?!" his friend asked.

"Sure," Steve said and walked over to them.

"Mommy, look! It's Iron Man!" shouted a little boy. He dragged his mother over by Tony. "Can I have a picture too?"

"Sure, kid." Tony posed with the child and his mom snapped a picture.

Some more girls came up giggling and asked Loki to take their picture with Thor.

Loki gazed heavenward and thought, _Norns save us from bubbleheaded hormonal teenagers!_ Then he took two pictures with their phone.

"Daddy. Why don't they want pictures with you?" Max asked.

"I had some girls take pictures with me," Loki told him.

He felt something grab his boot and looked down to see a pint-sized little girl hugging his leg. "Hello there!"

"Larissa! Oh Lord there you are!" her mother cried, running over. "Oh, I'm so sorry. sir! She's normally not like this with strange-oh my word! You're-you're-"

"It's Loki, Mommy!" Larissa cried.

"Yes, honey, I see that." Her mother said, smiling. "She thinks you are the greatest thing since peanut butter and jelly. She makes me put on the news clips of you so she can watch them over and over on my tablet. I hope you don't mind her taking a picture with you?"

"Not at all." He knelt and put his arm around the child, and they smiled for the camera.

"Okay, Larissa. Now you have to say goodbye to Loki. We need to get home before Daddy does."

The little girl looked woebegone. "Awww, but I wanna play wif Loki!"

"Larissa . . ." her mother sighed in exasperation.

"Tell you what," Loki said, recalling the Loki car he had purchased. "You take this and play with it. It's my car." He gave the little girl the car.

Larissa's face lit up as if he had just given her a million dollars. "Mommy! My own Loki car!" She hugged the toy to her as if it were something precious.

"Thank you! You just made her Christmas," her mother grinned. Then she stood on tiptoe and kissed Loki's cheek. Blushing, she took her daughter's hand. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" Loki said, and Tony whistled. "Must be your day, Reindeer Games. None of the rest of us rated a kiss."

"All the ladies wanna rip Daddy's clothes off," Aleta informed her uncles loudly.

People's heads turned.

"Thanks, spark!" Loki groaned.

The other Avengers laughed.

After the photo op session was over, the Avengers helped Loki put everything in the van.

"What time do you want us over for dinner on Christmas?" Tony asked. He, Natasha, Bruce, Thor, Aunt May, Peter and Loki's family would all be eating over at the Laufeyson residence. Clint would be spending Christmas day with his own family.

"Six thirty," Loki answered.

"We'll be there," Iron Man said.

"Loki, when are we eating Yule Eve?" Thor asked.

"We're ordering from Antonio's," Loki said. "So around six."

"Oh good! Will you get that Italian smothered steak again?" the Thunder God asked.

"Yes, I'll make sure they give me an extra large one," Loki chuckled. That was one of their specialties and Thor loved it. "Plus an extra loaf of their garlic bread."

"I will bring pastries from Ferrara's" Thor promised.

"Not too many, Thor. We're doing a new tradition this year, I'll explain when you get there," Loki said.

Then he bid the Avengers goodbye and drove back home. No sooner had he texted Sam to get the kids out and help bring in the groceries, then he received a text from Hunter.

 **Dad, we have a situation! Odin chased Mischief up the Christmas tree and it fell down!**

 _Oh, Nine Hells!_


	4. Mischief Afoot

**4**

 **Mischief Afoot**

 _Cats and Christmas trees don't mix. ~Loki_

The kids stood around the fallen tree while Mischief looked up at them with a bored look and Sam sighed.

"Dad is going to freak," Nate said.

"It really wasn't Odin's fault. He was trying to keep her away from the tree," Vince said with his arms around the dog.

The sound of the front door opening made the kids turn as Loki, the toddlers and Thor walked in the main hall and the rest of the Avengers followed. They each had a grocery bag as they stood in the hallway and Loki glanced from the tree to the pets then back. Most of the ornaments were smashed, as was most of the tree, and pine needles were spread over the carpet.

"Dad...," Sam said when he placed the grocer bags down, shifted into his cat form and sauntered over to Mischief. The kitten looked at him with a blank look and he sat down.

"Mind explaining what happened, Kitling?" he mewed.

"I was looking at the pretty tree when that beast barked and started chasing me," Mischief mewed with a sad look.

"Is that what really happened?" Loki asked Odin, who laid down and placed its head on its paws.

"She was looking at the tree, but she had that look she gets when we're outside and she wants to climb something," Odin barked.

"Did you tell her not to climb this tree?"

"Yes! I told her this was a special tree, but she didn't listen."

"I do what I want," Mischief mewed, but Loki ignored her.

"And you chased her to make her stop?" Loki asked and Odin nodded.

Loki shifted back into his normal form when he took hold of Odin's collar and the dog stood. He walked Odin to the corner when he motioned for Odin to sit and the dog sat facing the wall. Loki picked up Mischief when he walked into the kitchen and placed the kitten in her carrier. He closed the door when he knelt down to look at her and the kitten gave him a hurt look.

"You do the crime, you do the time," he mewed and Mischief curled up into a ball with her back to him. Sighing, Loki walked back into the room and looked at the tree.

"Think you can fix it, Reindeer Games?" Tony asked. Loki arched his eyebrows up as if Tony asked him the stupidest question in the world then he smiled. With a wave of his hands, Loki cast a reconstruction spell and the tree returned to normal. He cast another spell so the tree wouldn't topple over again and the kids cheered.

"Do you really think that's going to stop her from climbing it?" Steve asked. "I remember my grandmother's cat was constantly climbing their tree or knocking it over."

"I have an idea," Loki said and waved his hands. In the corner was a green wood cat tree with several ledges and yarn ornaments hung down from unbreakable string. At the top was a yellow wood star and the trunk was made of something she could sharpen her claws.

"What a great idea, Brother!" Thor said.

"You're going to reward her for knocking the tree down?" Clint asked.

"No, it's to make sure she doesn't do it again," Bruce said.

"What about Odin, Dad? He really didn't do anything wrong," Hunter said and Loki waved his hands.

Next to the tree was a fabric dog house with ODIN printed over the doorway and a green and red checkered pattern cushion was inside. The doghouse looked like a little gingerbread house and even had fake snow on the roof. Odin turned to look at his new house as he walked over and sniffed it. He walked inside then turned around three times and settled on the cushion.

"Do you like it?" Loki asked.

"Yes!" Odin barked and the kids giggled. Loki walked into the kitchen when he opened the door to the carrier and looked at Mischief.

"You can come out now," Loki mewed, but Mischief just slashed her tail at him. He shifted into his cat form when he squeezed in as much of his body as he could into the carrier and nudged her with his head.

"Go away," Mischief hissed.

"Now, Kitling, you know I have to punish you when you do something wrong," he mewed, but her tail just slashed back and forth.

"I wasn't going to climb it."

"Yes, you were," he purred and her tail lightly smacked his nose.

"It was so pretty," she mewed, sadly. "I ruined it."

"Come now. You know nothing stays broken or ruined in this house."

"You...? You fixed it?"

"Yes, and I even have a surprise for you," he said as he backed out of the carrier and waited. Mischief slowly walked out of the carrier as he shifted back into his normal form and picked her up. They went back into the room as she looked at the tree and he gently stroked her fur. She then saw the cat tree when she hopped out of his arms and ran to it. She looked back at Loki as he nodded and she climbed up onto the top ledge. He walked to her when he patted her head and she rolled onto her back. "I take it you like your surprise?"

"Yes!" she purred.

"So you will stay away from the Christmas tree?"

"Yes, Papa, I will be good."

Loki rubbed her chin then walked to the others and picked up the grocery bags.

"Let's go put these away," Loki said as he headed for the kitchen. "I have an auction to go to."

"Not this time, Max." Loki said and ruffled his hair. The boy frowned, and looked down. "Maybe the next event?"

"O.K. Daddy!" Max said and started helping to put the groceries away.

They placed the grocery bags on the table while Loki explained where the groceries were supposed to go and Tony smiled when he picked up the box of Thoreos.

"Um, care to explain this, Point Break?" Tony asked, showing Thor the box.

"Thoreos? Cooper, Lila, Nathaniel Pietro love those," Clint said. Cooper, Lila, Nathaniel Pietro were Clint's kids and Loki reminded himself to bring down the highchair for Nathaniel.

"At least it's cereal. I have my photo on packages of hot dogs," Steve said, rolling his eyes.

"The prize is a key chain," Max said, pointing at the bottom corner of the box.

"Hmmm," Tony said, handing the box to Thor.

"Laura wants to know if there is anything you want her to bring for the dinner," Clint said.

"Just you and your family is fine," Loki said with a grin. After the groceries were put away, Loki led Thor and the Avengers to the door then turned and looked at Sam. "You're in charge until I get back."

"Right, Dad," Sam said with a nod and he vanished in a puff of green smoke.

Derek paced as he looked at the people who had arrived for the private auction when he felt someone tap his shoulder and turned, seeing Loki behind him.

"Is everything ready?" Loki asked.

"Yes, Sir," Derek said.

"Then lets get this over with," he said and they walked on stage. He nodded his head as they applauded and he held up his hand to silence them. He tapped the microphone when he looked at the screen behind him and sighed. "Hello. I guess we all know why we're here. Apparently, there was an error in the printing department and we had one hundred covers for our new game that are, well, they're not kid friendly."

The people in the room laughed as he shrugged and held his hand up again.

"All but five of the covers have been shredded and we are going to auction off the remaining covers. The money will be going to the Autism Foundation of NYC," he said and people applauded. He stood back so the auctioneer could start the auction and Loki Looked at the screen. A soft clicking sound filled the air as the image of the cover appeared and Loki felt the heat of the blush move across his cheeks.

"Ooooooo!" some of the women said at the sight of Loki lounging naked on a couch with his helmet on his head and a blanket covering a certain part of his anatomy.

"Norns protect me," Loki thought as the auction started and each of the covers sold for between five hundred to seventy-five hundred thousand dollars. Loki noticed the buyers were all women and he smiled while signing the covers. Loki thanked everyone for their bids, some even donated money without bidding on the covers, and he left the room with Derek walking next to him.

"That went well," Derek said.

"Yes. And you're sure the other covers are gone?" Loki asked.

"Yes, sir. And the women who made the covers are on report."

"No. Don't do that. They didn't mean any harm."

"Yes, sir."

"Merry Christmas, Derek."

"Merry Christmas," Derek said and walked passed him. Once Derek went around the corner, Loki shook his head and vanished in a puff of green smoke.

Loki arrived home to find that Thor was still over the house along with Jane and Darcy.

As Loki appeared in the kitchen he saw the brunette with glasses standing by the table watching the kids breaking apart what looked like cat litter in foil pans with small hammers.

"Hello. What are you all doing?" he asked.

"Hey. Uh... so I saw this idea for kids on Pintrest... you hide toys and rocks in the cal litter, get it wet and let it harden. They do their own dino dig" Darcy said and Max looked at the pan. Serena carried in a third pan and some brushes and sieves.

"That seems quite educational as well." Loki said, and they heard Jane and Thor arguing in the front room.

"Yeah, and I thought it would keep the smaller kids from having to listen to that. I will clean up the mess." Darcy replied, putting everything on the table. The shouting picked up, and Darcy cringed.

"Can I dig in this one?" Max asked, picking up the wooden hammer and a brush.

The kids filtered out and Darcy looked down at her feet. She handed him a small box and fidgeted with her hands.

"I'm super sorry for all that drama I caused you. It was really stupid, and I know this is a super bad excuse... but I sort of went through a bad break up before that date...You know how it is and stuff." She said and looked uncomfortable. "I got that to say sorry too... and Merry Christmas... or whatever you Gods of Asgard celebrate."

Max tapped at the hardened cat litter with the hammer and giggled, Aleta joining him and both kids sat at the table together. Sam and Serena listened, and Loki put a hand on Darcy's shoulder.

"I forgive you. And thank you for the gift." He said, Darcy smiling as he leaned in to whisper to her. "How long have they been arguing?"

"Since this afternoon. Big Blondie came and said he was late because he had to handle something for your Dad. Something about some lady and treason." She sighed. "Jane was freaking out about it all. I hope they mellow out soon."

"Daddy! I found a dinosaur in my tray!" Max shouted and pointed at the plastic brontosaurus.

"That's great, Max!" Loki said, going over to see it. "Wow! He looks cool!"

The other kids were happily digging away and Loki gently placed the box on the counter and said, "Excuse me for a minute." Then he walked out of the room and into his den, where Jane and Thor were arguing over his being late for the Christmas party the night before because he had some business to settle for Odin.

"The world doesn't revolve around you and your Asgardian politics, Thor!" Jane was saying.

"I have duties to Asgard that supracedes a mere holiday gathering!" Thor argued.

Loki sighed and lifted his hands. Then he chanted in Old Norse, "Cease thy quarrel, calm they anger, peace be upon thee, all disagreements mended. I, head of this household, make it so!"

His calming spell settled over the two and they blinked, all their argument forgotten. Jane smiled and asked Thor to light a fire in the fireplace and Thor shrugged and did so.

Loki left then and returned to the kitchen where Darcy waited with the children.

"What did you do, Loki?" asked the brunette.

"I persuaded them to stop arguing in my house," the god answered. "That kind of thing isn't something that I allow. Too traumatizing for my kids to have to listen to that for hours." He picked up the box Darcy had given him. "So what's this?"

"A present," she said.

He untied the bow on it and opened it. Inside was a book. It was called World Without End by Ken Follett. "How lovely!"

"I hope you didn't read it," Darcy began.

"No. I haven't," Loki said. "Thank you."

"Fancy that!" Thor laughed. "A book you haven't read."

"There are a few, Thor," Loki coughed.

"How did your auction go?" his brother asked.

"Fine. I donated all the money to charity," Loki replied.

"Cool." Darcy said and smiled with Aleta as she's found a Rose Quartz heart in her tray.

"Daddy! This is fun!" Aleta said and Darcy shrugged at him.

Loki laughed. "That was a good idea, Darcy. Okay, now I am going to make my cheeseburger macaroni casserole and a salad for dinner."

"I found it on Pintrest." Darcy shrugged.

"I do like this meal." Thor said, Jane rolling her eyes at him.

Loki took three large pans of the casserole from his huge freezer and thawed them easily using his frost magic in reverse, to remove the ice. He preheated the oven and put all three pans in it. "Thirty to forty minutes and it will be done. That'll give you time to find a few more treasures and then clean up." Loki said, and summoned several tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and a mild onion to the counter along with a knife and a large bowl. "Thor, can you cut up tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions while I make the dressing?"

"Yes, Loki." Thor said and began slicing a tomato.

While Thor cut up produce, Jane and Darcy helped the kids rinse their treasures and then clean up the kitchen. Loki made apple cider vinaigrette whisked everything together in a large bowl to toss with salad.

"Daddy? Can we do that again?" Max asked, holding a piece of quartz and showing him the rock.

"Yes, imp. That's a good activity for you two to do," Loki agreed.

"What stone is this Dad?" Serena asked, showing him a pale Moonstone heart.

"That's a moonstone, darling," Loki replied.

"It is pretty." She said and smiled at him. "Moonstone. Like my nickname."

"You pulled a woman out of bed and skipped the party!" Jane shouted in the next room. Darcy sighed, crossing her arms.

"She was deemed a traitor! She was not executed, she is merely sanctioned by Father in an act of charity!" Thor shouted back.

"Well la de dah! You still missed that party! Couldn't it have waited?" Jane shot back and Sam sat at the table.

"Sorry." Darcy said to Loki and sighed. "I think she has PMS or something."

"IT WAS FOR ASGARD!" Thor bellowed, the house shaking. "I WILL BE KING ONE DAY!"

"Just like that," Loki said, then he walked back out into the den. "That's enough!" Loki said icily. "This is my house. Take your arguments elsewhere. I want peace in my home, not a war."

"Let us eat. I am starved." Thor said, glaring at Jane.

"Come, Brother. I have the table set." Loki beckoned to him.

The timer on the oven beeped and Loki went and took the pans out. Two he placed on the table along with the salad. The third he had on the counter in reserve. Pitchers of iced tea, cucumber flavored water, and beer were served.

"Thank you." He said. "I am sorry Loki, but Matters of State come before all."

"I understand. Do you forget I am a prince too?" Loki teased. He drew his brother into the kitchen.

"I sometimes do forget." Thor laughed.

Jane sat in her chair, Darcy sitting next to her and grinning at the kids. They made faces at each other, and Thor began laughing.

Loki shook his head. "Go sit down, airhead." He smirked. He sniffed the air. "Mmm! I do love how this casserole smells."

The aroma of it was just like a freshly cooked cheeseburger and it tasted just like one too, except with macaroni instead of a bun.

"It smells great." Darcy said and grinned. "I may take off after dinner, I'm flying home to Seattle to see my parents. Dad says his construction company is doing great."

"That's nice to hear," Loki said. He served everyone a plate full of the casserole and the salad went in bowls next to their plates.

"What does he build now?" Thor asked and she grinned.

"He has six apartment towers going up now, and he is expanding a hospital." Darcy replied, and ate some salad.

"Fascinating." Jane groaned.

Loki took a bite of his casserole, savoring the taste of the cheese, ground beef, pickles, and ketchup. "How is your research going, Jane?" he asked politely.

"I almost have things stabilized, but took a break to work with Darcy's Dad on some train project." She groaned. "I ran out of funding."

"You are working on the Light Rail, and they needed someone who could do the math for the wattage." Darcy sighed. "The rail is going to replace buses and is completely electric. They dug it under Seattle. And the new expansion takes it across Lake Washington and into Bellevue."

Loki arched an eyebrow. "Sounds very progressive. How much do you need?"

"No more polluting buses?" Belle asked, looking excited. "That is so cool Dad!"

"What? No more doing math for Darcy's Dad?" Jane said, her eyes going wide.

"Dad offered you a good salary Jane, he was being nice." Darcy said and told Belle about the vehicles, describing how they were building a special floating bridge across the large lake.

"I know, but I'm a physicist not a mathematician," Jane said staring at the check in her hands. "Loki, can you really afford this?"

"Of course," the God of Mischief replied, smiling. He hoped that would now keep the peace between her and Thor.

"Dad, they should build something like this in New York!" Sam said, listening to Darcy. "No more busses and traffic."

"Yes, but that's something that the mayor and the City Council would have to approve," Loki said. "What sort of formulas were they using?" he asked Darcy.

"The usual. They were having problems getting the current to flow properly, but Jane fixed it."

Loki nodded. "That's good. "

"Yeah. Good." Jane groaned and Darcy shrugged.

"Once Jane goes back to her research, will you need another mathematician?" Loki asked.

"Yeah, someone with some engineering skills." She said and nodded. "You know someone?"

"Tony. Why don't you ask him?" Loki suggested. He didn't mention he could probably do it also, because he had a family and a company to run.

"Sure. I can ask Stark for her." Thor said.

Aleta tugged on Loki's sleeve. "Daddy, can I have more?"

Loki saw she had eaten all her salad and cheeseburger macaroni. "Certainly, spark." He gave her another large spoonful.

One pan had been polished off and the other started. Loki put the third pan on the table.

"This is good. You are an amazing cook." Darcy said and grinned.

Kathy

"Thank you. I make this one a lot. Because it's quick and it tastes great even leftover."

"Not that we have some of it leftover," laughed Lucy.

"I like the chicken with biscuit casserole too," Max added.

"It is super good." Sam said.

"I love that one!" Hunter said.

"It sounds good." Jane said.

"Dad, can we have that one tomorrow night?" pleaded Serena.

"Yes, because I have some frozen," Loki answered.

"Awesome!" Vince said and cheered.

"Where did you learn to cook if you grew up a prince?" Darcy queried.

"My best friend's mother was the Head Chef," Loki replied. "But a lot of these recipes I made and tinkered with a bit myself."

"Cool." Darcy said and rubbed her stomach. "I'm stuffed."

"Then I won't serve dessert right away," Loki said. "But you can take some home if you want."

He thought about the large serving bowl of chocolate pudding with crushed Oreos and gummy worms on top of it-also known as "Dirt" in his fridge. He took it out and placed it on the table.

"That looks awesome!" Darcy said. "I will take a bit for the plane."

Loki fixed her a sundae cup of it with a lid and a plastic spoon. "A To Go box," he chuckled.

"Thanks! I need to get going if I am going to make my flight. Have a good Christmas." She said and grinned.

"Have a safe trip," Loki replied, his emerald eyes sparkling.

"You are the boss." She replied and hugged him. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Darcy," he returned the hug.

She walked down the walk to her car, getting in and waving as she drove away.

Loki smiled to himself, glad that he and Darcy could be friends. He sighed, looking up at the sky and wondering if there was someone out there for him. A small snowflake falling and landing on his cheek, he closed his eyes a moment and he saw a warm smile and a set of blue eyes framed with gold hair looking back at him. He shook his head, frowning and went back inside as the soft flakes began to multiply and settle into the grass.

When Loki returned he found a dish of dessert at his place and a cup of coffee. The kids were cleaning up the kitchen while Thor was giving Jane a goodbye hug.

"Good luck on your studies." Thor said and sighed.

"Thanks." She said, and kissed his cheek lightly. Then she turned to Loki. "Have a Merry Christmas, Mischief Man." She gave the startled god a hug. "Gotta run, but I'll see you around. Thanks for this!"

She patted her purse where the check was and waved as Thor escorted her to her car and she drove off.

"I cannot believe you gave her that." Thor said and sighed

"I wanted to keep the peace between you. Unhappy people argue a lot," Loki pointed out. "Besides, it's just money. I made seven times that on my auction today."

"What _were_ you auctioning, brother?"

"A rather racy game cover for adults only," Loki coughed.

Thor raised an eyebrow. "Of you?"

Loki flushed. "Yes but don't you dare say anything or I'll kill you."

"I won't." Thor promised. "I am weary now. Father has put a great deal of troubles on my mind." He said and walked into the house.

Loki followed and watched as Thor went and lay down on the green leather sectional in the den, as the fire crackled and Mischief sharpened her claws on her cat tree while Odin slept in his new doghouse.

"Happy Yule, Loki." Thor mumbled, dozing off.

Loki put a throw over Thor, who was soon snoring. He headed into the kitchen to finish eating and drinking his coffee, then he went upstairs to wrap the last presents he had bought.

"Aleta, Uncle Thor is asleep on the couch. He needs some Christmas Cheer." Max said and poked his sister.

"So what are we gonna do?" Aleta looked at her imp of a brother curiously.

"Lookit what I found on Daddy's phone!" Max pointed to a picture on Loki's phone of a man in a Christmas tree costume. The man had blonde hair like their uncle and was smiling. "We could dress him up like a Christmas Tree." Max said and clapped his hands

"Cool! Let's do it!" Aleta cheered. "I know where Daddy has the leftover box of ornaments."

The two toddlers ran into the foyer and opened the closet. Inside was a box with extra ornaments and velvet ribbons, a packet of glitter, some tinsel and other decorations.

"Do we want gold garland?" Max asked.

"Yes!" Aleta nodded, and also dragged out a string of large plastic lights that were battery operated.

The two scamps marched into the den where the Thunder God slumbered. Aleta went and tied the green throw around Thor's waist like a skirt.

They carefully wound the blinking lights about his broad frame and then hung the plastic ornaments all over his shirt and the skirt. Next came the gold garland, draped artistically about him.

"Hmm . . ." Max studied him. "He needs something . . ."

"I know!" Aleta clapped her hands. "We gotta do his beard to match!"

She ripped open the packet of glitter and applied it to Thor's beard, mustache, and eyebrows. Then she streaked his hair also.

"That looks really good, Aleta," Max praised.

"We need tinsel, too!" she said and Max opened the box, carefully handing her the tinsel. She placed the tinsel in Thor's hair when they stood back and checked how he looked.

Last but not least she added some velvet ribbon and tied a big bow on Thor's head.

"Perfect!" Max said and they did a high five.

They quickly dragged the box back into the closet, proud of their handiwork. Just then, Loki returned, wanting another cup of coffee, and noticed lights kept blinking on and off in the den.

 _Did a light burn out?_ he wondered.

He saw the toddlers with the box as they glanced at each other and he smiled.

"Are you two responsible for the blinking lights?" he asked.

Max shrugged. "They just started doin' that."

"And what are you doing with the decoration box?"

"We were putting it away," Aleta said.

Loki raised an eyebrow. Something told him mischief was afoot and he strode into the den to see what they had added to the tree. He stopped dead when he saw the Thor-mas Tree on the couch.

"Sweet Valhalla on a ski sled!"

"Doesn't Uncle Thor look Christmas-y, Daddy?!" Aleta asked with a grin.

"By the Nine, spark!" Loki exclaimed and began to laugh until tears came to his eyes. "Oh . . . oh . . . where is my phone . . . oh Norns . . .!"

Loki went to get his phone when he ran back to the living room and took several photos.

"I need to send these to Tony," he thought and sent the photos to Tony's phone with the heading Rockin' Around the Thor-mas Tree.

"Are we in trouble, Daddy?" Max asked.

"No, imp," he said with a shake of his head.

He couldn't wait for his brother to wake up and see his Christmas surprise.

"What's so funny, Dad?" asked Vince, coming into the den to see why Loki was laughing so much.

"We turned Uncle Thor into a Christmas tree," Max said.

"Holy hopping horned toads!" Vince cried and doubled over laughing. "Hunter! Ya gotta see this!"

Hunter and the rest of the kids ran to the den when they looked at Thor and broke out laughing.

"He... He has tinsel hair!" Serena said, giggling.

Loki's phone beeped and he looked at it. There was a text from Tony **. LMFAO! I almost peed myself, Reindeer Games!**

Loki smiled when he saw Thor stirring and Max and Aleta hid behind him.

"What's so funny?" Thor asked with a sleepy tone.

"Open your eyes and see," Loki said and Thor opened his eyes. He looked at the ornaments, the blanket skirt and the blinking lights and Thor's roar of laughter echoed in the room.

"Who did this?" he mock-growled. Then he saw the two scamps behind Loki. "Ah ha! I think I see the culprits now!" He stood up and crept over and picked up the two toddlers and tossed them into the air.

"We wanted to cheer you up," Max said.

"Well, it worked," Thor said.

"You have glitter in your hair and beard, Brother," Loki said as he waved his hand and a mirror appeared. He walked to the couch then handed him the mirror and Thor looked at his reflection.

Loki giggled as Thor shook his head and began to tickle his small niece and nephew.

"You didn't take any photos, did you, Brother?" Thor asked and Loki gave him a mock shocked look.

"Who?! Me?!" Loki asked then laughed. Sighing, Thor rolled his eyes and Loki shrugged.

"We posted them on Instagram!" Hunter howled.

"What? C'mere, you little-" Thor bellowed in pretend anger and chased Hunter.

"Ahh! Mad Thor-mas Tree!" Hunter giggled.

"We're going to be killed by a Thor-mas Tree!" Belle shouted as Thor chased the kids then scooped them up one at a time into his arms and hugged them.

Loki picked up Aleta and Max as they watched Thor tickling Vince and Serena when Odin and Mischief walked out of the living room and looked at Loki.

"Why is he dressed like a tree?" Odin barked.

"Aleta and Max decorated him to cheer him up," Loki explained and the dog and kitten looked at each other.

"People are weird," Mischief mewed as they went back into the room and Loki laughed.


	5. A Laufeyson Christmas Eve

**5**

 **A Laufeyson Christmas Eve**

 _"Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, children were reading and playing with Nerf guns."_ _~Loki_

Loki woke up Christmas Eve morning to a cat licking his hair. "Aww, by the Nine, Mischief!" he groaned. "Do you have to wake me up like that?" He could have sworn the cat smirked at him.

"I'm hungry," The kitten purred.

Loki sighed. "Okay. Quit washing me. My hair is clean," _Or it was,_ he thought groaning.

"Is it time to eat, Papa?" she asked, pawing at the air.

"I guess it is," Loki said, realizing he wasn't going to get to sleep in today.

The cat jumped off the pillow and sat on the rug, purring while Loki got up, shoved his feet into his slippers, and ran a brush through his hair.

"Come on Papa! Wait until you see what the kids have!" The kitten chirped, downstairs he could her the kids running around and the distinct sound of Nerf guns.

"Nerf guns!" Loki shook his head. "I know whose doing that was!" He conjured an extra large green one that could shoot multiple bursts and ran downstairs.

"Get him, Sam!" Vince shouted.

"No!" Thor shouted back! "Stark! You will pay for this!"

"Surprise! Loki shouted and opened fire, hitting Thor in the butt and Sam and Hunter in the arms.

"Got him, Daddy!" Aleta said from the top of the bookshelf. Opening fire like a sniper.

"Hey, spark! What are you doing up there?" Loki called, shooting Tony with precision between the eyes.

From under the table, Max appeared and shot as well. Thor taking hits to the groin.

"There goes my chance for heirs." Thor groaned, pressing his forehead to the floor in pain.

"Just suck it up, Thunder Boy!" hooted Natasha.

Belle hid under the table and shot at everyone's feet as they went past.

"Uncle Tony gave us these to us for Christmas!" Max said and Aleta started climbing off the bookshelf.

Loki levitated up and helped her down.

"Thanks Daddy. Uncle Clint said I should take the high ground."

Loki laughed. "He's right, Aleta."

A Nerf arrow came from nowhere, hitting Vince between the eyes.

"Very funny Uncle Clint!" Vince shouted.

Loki ducked a Nerf arrow and then fired back at Steve

"Nice shot, Dad!" Nate cheered.

"Hope you don't mind." Tony said, ducking a dart from Nate.

"No. They can have fun and not kill each other. Always a plus!" Loki giggled.

"True." Tony said, a dart hitting him in the side of the head.

A dart hit Loki in the back of the knee.

"Gotcha, Dad!" Hunter shouted.

"Now you are going to get it!" Thor laughed, standing up.

A grinning Loki knelt on one knee and opened up with a barrage of arrows towards his impertinent son. "Think fast, wolfling!"

"No!" He shouted, running and ducking behind a door.

Loki crooked a finger and the Nerf missiles followed Hunter like they were heat seeking. "You can run but you can't hide!"

"No fair! That's cheating Dad!" He shouted and Thor laughed hard.

"I beg your pardon?" Loki said. "All's fair in love and war, son."

"Get him!" Serena shouted. Belle and she appearing over the couch and firing on him.

Loki blinked away then reloaded and shot Steve down.

"Hi Dad!" Belle said, shooting him from the top of the stairs and laughing.

"Now, now, darling!" Loki chided, smirking. "Don't shoot your father." He promptly shot her hand with a missile.

"Mean!" Belle said and laughed. Darts and arrows scattered all over the room.

He grinned. _This is fun!_ he thought.

Mischief meowed, wanting breakfast. "Sorry!" he mewed back and waved a hand and a can of tuna appeared in her dish.

"Breakfast!" Mischief meowed.

Odin barked from the yard. "Let me in! I want food!"

Loki waved his hand and let the shepherd in, then he magicked ground hamburger into Odin's bowl.

The dog charged through the house, running through Thor's legs and causing him to fall over backwards. He crashed to the floor, groaning in pain.

"Odin!" Loki huffed. "Thor, you okay?"

"I think so." Thor groaned, Odin bolting down his food and pushing the bowl across the floor.

Loki helped his brother to his feet, healing him.

"I think your family will cost me an eye one day."

"I hope not," Loki said. "And it's your family too, brother." He clapped the warrior on the shoulder.

"I do hope these children wear out soon." Thor groaned, three darts hitting him in the butt.

"I can't guarantee that, Thor," Loki chuckled. "They're like the Energizer bunnies."

"How do you survive them?" He asked, a dart hitting him in the forehead, and he sighed.

"I let them wear themselves out," Loki answered.

"Did they put glue on this one?" Thor said, pulling at the stuck dart.

"They could have," Loki chuckled and plucked the dart off.

"Ouch!" Thor said and rubbed the red spot.

"Sorry," Loki apologized.

"Duck!" Vince shouted, opening fire on Steve and Natasha.

The brothers threw themselves to the ground.

"No!" Steve shouted, getting hit by the darts.

"Nice shot, nephew!" Thor cried.

"Thanks Uncle Thor." He said back, laughing.

"I think I had better feed this horde of children," Loki grinned and headed into the kitchen.

Steve walked through the door to the kitchen, a dart hitting him in the butt and sticking.

"That one had glue on it." Hunter said, shrugging.

"Just for that, you're eating liver, kid!" Loki called back.

"I need more glue then!" Hunter said and laughed. "I'm going down for something big!"

"Hunter!" Steve shouted, Natasha laughing and pulling the dart off his butt. She tore his pants accidentally, revealing some star spangled boxers. Tony begin singing the Star Spangled Banner, Clint saluting with him.

"Nice shorts, Rogers!" Thor laughed

"Thanks." He groaned, tying his hoodie around his waist and turning red. "Stop singing that."

A knock on the door made Loki turn as he walked to the door and heard a soft bark. Smiling, he opened the door and looked at Mandy and Mystic,

"Hello, dear," Mandy said as he opened the door a little wider so she could come in and Mystic scampered off to find Odin and Mischief.

"Come in, Mandy!" Loki grinned broadly. "You're just in time for breakfast. Excuse the chaos-my friend Tony bought my kids Nerf guns for Christmas and we're having a Nerf war."

"Oh my!" she said as he helped her off with her coat and placed the coat on the peg. He led her into the living room as he saw Max and Aleta playing with Mystic and Odin then they ran to Mandy, hugging her. "Merry Christmas, Dears."

"Merry Christmas, Missus Mandy!" they chorused.

"Is Santa gonna bring you presents under your tree too?" Max asked excitedly. He couldn't wait for Christmas morning to arrive.

"I think I'm a little old for him to bring me presents," Mandy said, sadly.

"You are never too old for presents," Loki assured her and she nodded.

"You want some coffee, Mandy?" Loki queried. "Come into the kitchen. I think I'll make French toast, bacon, and scrambled eggs."

"That sounds lovely!" Mandy said and she and the toddlers headed for the kitchen. Mystic watched them leave then sighed and Odin titled his head to one side.

"What's wrong?" Odin barked.

"Mandy thought she would be asked to come and spend Christmas with her son's family, but he hasn't called," Mystic said.

"That's mean." Mischief growled.

"Papa will let her spend it with us. She's like our elder," Odin said.

"Yes, and we have presents for her," Mischief said then headed for the cat tree, hopping up onto the shelf.

"I hope so," Mystic said, lying on the floor and placed her head on her paws.

Loki made Mandy a cup of coffee and seated her at the table. He gave Max and Aleta some milk and began to make the French toast and scramble the eggs.

"So, what are you doing for Christmas?" Loki asked, placing the thick slice of bread in the egg wash.

"I guess I'll be spending it at home," Mandy sighed.

"You're not going to spend it with your family?" Max asked.

"No, dear."

"Hasn't your son called about you coming to see them?" Loki asked.

Mandy shook her head. "He said he was too busy to take time off from work to fly down to New York. He has an important job."

"You're his mother," Loki objected. "Nothing is as important as family."

"I know, but..."

"You can celebrate with us!" Aleta said with a grin.

"Yeah!" Max agreed.

"I don't want to be a bother," Mandy said.

"You are never a bother," Loki said with a shake of his head and she smiled.

Steve and Belle came into the kitchen. "Loki, need any help?" the Avenger asked. Then he saw Mandy. "Hi, Mandy. How are you, ma'am?"

"I am doing well, Steven," Mandy said and silently admitted she thought he was very handsome. "How are you?"

"Stop that. He's old enough to be your son," she thought.

"I'm good," Steve said with a nod.

"Will you watch the toast while I start the scrambled eggs?" Loki asked.

"Sure," Steve said, walking to the stove.

"Dad, you want me to make the bacon?" Belle asked, and began laying strips of bacon into the plastic bacon cooker and put them in the microwave.

"Yes, that will be fine," Loki said as he broke some eggs and put them in the bowl.

"Belle, Mandy's son is being mean and doesn't want her to come for Christmas!" Aleta said.

"Spark, Mandy said he's busy and can't come to New York."

"It's still not fair," Belle said.

"That's why she's going to spend Christmas with us!" Max said.

"Good," Belle said, placing the bacon cooker in the microwave.

"Do I smell French toast?!" Tony asked as he walked in the room and Loki sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, you do. Now say hello," Loki said and Tony looked at Mandy.

"Oh, hey, Mandy. Didn't see you," he said with a grin.

"Hello, Anthony," Mandy said and Tony walked to the stove to watch Steve flipped the bread over.

"Smells good."

"Why don't you go tell Thor to set the table?" Loki said.

"But I'm hungry!" Tony whined.

"You sound like one of my kids," he teased and Tony laughed.

"Have a banana, Uncle Tony," Max said and Tony picked a banana out of the bowl and left the room.

Loki placed the French toast on several platters and the scrambled eggs in two bowls. Belle got the syrup and butter out and put the bacon onto another platter. Loki replicated all the food and left the extra on the counter under "keep warm spells".

Thor walked into the kitchen and began setting the table while Loki pulled the cream and sweeteners out and put coffee and tea into his carafes and set them on the table along with milk and juice.

"Okay. Looks like we are ready. Belle, go call them."

Soon a thundering herd of buffalo stampeded into the kitchen. "Breakfast!" yelled Hunter like he hadn't seen food in a year.

Loki cleared his throat. "Holy Valhalla! Where's your manners?"

"Hunter! Jeez!" Sam groaned, shooting him with the Nerf gun.

"All right. Everyone settle down," Loki ordered his kids.

The children obeyed, sitting around the table.

Loki set everything out and then sat down at the head of the table. For a few minutes the only sounds in the room were of people eating. The cat and dogs trotted into the kitchen and lay down beside Loki's and Mandy's chairs.

"This is the best French toast" Mandy said. "What is your secret?"

"We can't get him to tell us," Steve laughed. "But when Loki cooks nobody goes home hungry."

"If they do it's their own fault," Mandy smiled.

"Please pass the bacon." Nate requested, and Thor handed the platter to the boy.

"Here you are, Nathan," Thor said. "Loki, what new tradition are we doing tonight?"

"Daddy. Can I have more juice?" Max asked

"Yes, but only a little bit. You know how you get with too much sugar," he reminded the child. He poured Max a half a cup more of orange juice.

He handed the glass to his son then looked over at Thor. "Belle came up with the new tradition of everyone getting a book on Christmas Eve and then reading them that night and eating chocolate."

"Sounds like fun," Natasha said.

"I'm not big on reading," Clint said.

"But it's fun, Uncle Clint," Aleta said,

"I can read the book I brought on the First War in Iraq." Steve said and smiled.

"Still catching up?" Tony asked and Steve nodded.

"Yeah. I missed... alot." He replied and sipped his coffee.

"Clint, borrow some of Vince's comic books. He's got a few good Batman ones." Loki said.

"Ha-ha," Clint said then stuck out his tongue.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Well, I know you won't like anything I've read. Because they're all over 500 pages."

"Now, boys, be nice or you'll have to go to your rooms," Tony scolded and Clint picked up a piece of toast and tossed it at him.

"No fighting at the table," Max said.

"Yeah! You do and it's time out!" Aleta said

"She's right," Loki said, and Tony snorted.

"You wouldn't dare, Reindeer Games!" Tony challenged.

"Someone give Tony a beer before he gets really mean." Steve laughed.

"No. Make it coffee. Black," Tony said and Loki poured him a cup of coffee and placed the cup in front of Tony. "Thanks."

"Daddy, does Santa have enough room for all the presents in his sleigh?" Aleta asked.

"Yes, spark, he has plenty of room," Loki said.

"How does he get into everyone's house?" Max asked.

"He's magic, imp."

"Like you, Daddy?" Aleta asked.

'Yes, because Loki has parent magic," Tony said, covering for the slip. "He sees you when you're up to no good."

"That is sort of creepy." Natasha laughed.

"With eyes in the back of his head," Clint added.

"You have them too, Barton," Loki grinned.

"Yep," Clint said. "Like when I caught Cooper was trying to get some cookies before supper the other night. He asked me how I knew and I told him I had eyes in the back of my head."

"Ah, I remember telling my son that when he was little," Mandy said.

"Dad can read minds," Vince put in. "He can look at you and say, "Don't even think about it."

"He does." Aleta said and giggled. "I asked Santa to bring Daddy a wife!"

Tony nearly choked on his coffee while Loki sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh lord." Mandy said and chuckled.

"It would be a nice present for Daddy!" Aleta said and everyone started laughing.

"Aleta, I told you. A wife would get crushed by all the presents." Sam said.

"Spark, Santa doesn't bring adults presents. He only brings kids presents," Loki told her. "He also doesn't bring people for presents, only toys and maybe a pet."

"It must be boring to be an adult." Aleta said, eating her bacon.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Tony laughed.

"Aleta, adults get to drive and don't have to wait to be taken anywhere."

"Adults do what they want." Sam replied.

"Most of the time," Natasha said.

They all ate everything and went back for seconds, or in Thor's case, thirds.

"I wanna drive and still get presents." Aleta said, pouting.

Loki chuckled. "Well, spark. you get presents from your friends, just not Santa."

"Which is why some adults refuse to grow up," Natasha teased while looking at Tony.

"Hey!" Tony said and they laughed. Shrugging, Tony smiled and nibbled on some toast

"Wai till you grow up, then tell me that," Loki said.

Once they had all finished breakfast, Loki asked the Avengers to mind the kids while he went upstairs to wrap the books for Christmas Eve.

"Sure." Tony said, grinning.

"Would you like some help, Loki?" Mandy asked, wanting to be useful.

"Yes, if you don't mind," Loki said and she followed him out of the room.

They went upstairs to Loki's room, where he had the bag of books from Barnes and Noble.

He had a medium-sized folding table set up with his wrapping paper, tape, and tags on it, plus some water bottles and a chair. "You can use the chair, darling."

Mandy sat down while he removed the books from the bag and her eyes widened when she saw the inner cover of one of the books.

"Oh!" she said and he looked at the inner cover.

"Sam!?" Loki shouted then heard Sam running up the stairs.

"Dad, what's wron

g?!" Sam asked.

"What is the mean of this?" he asked, showing her the book's inner cover.

"Whoa! I had no idea!" she said and checked some of the other books. "Oh boy."

Loki scowled at the book that had been beneath the Hunger Games cover. It was something called The Duke's Runaway Bride and featured a man and a half-naked woman kissing.

"Oh my word!" Mandy giggled. "This looks like the trash my daughter-in-law reads. No plot and mostly sex."

"This one looks like she is either in pain or bored," Sam said.

"Perhaps both." Mandy laughed.

"This guy reminds of some idiot my brother used to be friends with. Good looking and dumber than dirt," Loki snorted.

"I don't know how this book got in there, Dad." Sam said and rolled her eyes.

"I think I know. Some kid didn't want their parent to know what they were really reading so they swapped the books out and put the Hunger Games cover over this . . . bodice ripper."

Loki thought this cover was terrible artwork, worse than the game cover that had been auctioned off. The proportions of the people were wrong and the colors clashed and looked fake.

Worse was the fact that now he had no book for Sam. "I'm going to have to return this and get the real book," he sighed. "Lucky I kept the receipt."

"Horse hockey!" Mandy sighed. "What a terrible thing to do on Christmas."

Loki nodded. "Yes. Whoever did it is sure to get coal in their stocking from good old St. Nick."

Loki put his receipt in the bag with the book when he left the room then vanished in a puff of green smoke. He reappeared at Barnes and Noble and opened the door.

He went and waited on line to return the book, telling the head cashier what had happened and showing her the evidence.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr. Laufeyson," she said apologetically. "We can exchange this for the right book." She took the romance book and it's "cover" back and went to retrieve the actual Hunger Games hardcover. She checked to make sure the book inside the dust jacket was correct and showed Loki before handing the book to him. "There you go! Have a happy holiday."

"Thank you, darling." He smiled at her and she had to catch her breath. Then she watched him leaving and her fellow cashier had to nudge her back to reality.

"OMG, that is one hot man!" she groaned. "Put him on the cover of anything and it will sell out in seconds."

"Yeah because you'd buy half of it!" laughed her co-worker.

"Look who's talking, Jen! You'd buy the other half!"

"Dam straight! His ass is hotter than hell!"

Loki made sure he was hidden by a large pine tree in a planter before he teleported back home again, his new copy clutched in his hand.

Mandy had arranged the books on the table when Loki appeared in the doorway and she smiled. He had waited a few minutes so she wouldn't notice him suddenly appearing and he walked to the table.

"That was quick," Mandy said.

"Yes. I was lucky the lines weren't too long," he said, placing the book on the table.

Loki began to wrap Max's Dr. Seuss book when suddenly a black flash jumped onto the table and lay in the middle of the wrapping paper spread out across it. "Hello, Papa!" Mischief mewed, blinking up at him with innocent green eyes.

Loki nearly meowed back before recalling Mandy was there. "Aww, Mischief! You need to move. That's not for cats to lay on.

"Cats always like to lay wherever you are doing something," Mandy chuckled.

"Tell me about it," Loki sighed. "Come on, kitty." He pointed to the other end of the table. "Go sit there."

Mischief refused to move. "I do what I want."

Loki sighed and found some cat treats and gently lured her away.

Then he wrapped the book and set it aside after labeling it MAX.

"Give her a bow to play with. That will occupy the little girl." Mandy suggested, showing him the shiny green bow.

"Yes, she'll like that," Loki agreed. He gave Mischief the bow.

"Pounce!" The kitten squeaked and jumped on it.

They both laughed as the little black whirlwind jumped around the room.

"Okay. Let's wrap the rest," Loki said and they wrapped six more books between them before a black paw landed upon the paper and the intrepid cat meowed, "Ta-dah! It's me!"

"Not again!" Loki moaned. "Where's your bow?

"I think it's there," Mandy pointed to the sorry looking scraps on the rug.

Loki shook his head and gave Mischief another piece of ribbon to play with. He wondered how long the kitten would stay occupied this time.

"He is a bundle of energy." Mandy laughed.

"Kind of like my kids," Loki said and then wrapped another book.

"They are all like that, dearie. They calm down as they grow up."

When all the books were wrapped, Loki pulled out some last minute gifts from the closet.

"Did you forget to wrap these?" Mandy asked, taking some to the table.

"No. I just saw some extra things at the store," Loki replied. "Sometimes I'm an impulse shopper."

He frowned as he held up a tetrahedron puzzle for Nate. The puzzle was plastic and inside a clear plastic that made part of the puzzle stick out, creating a weird shape. "Now how do I wrap this?" he said, though he would have just used magic if his neighbor were not in the room. However, he wondered how the non-mages did it.

"I have an idea, dearie." Mandy said and began wrapping the gift. She fashioned a bag out of the paper, sealing it shut and tying it off with a bit of ribbon.

"How very clever, Mandy!" Loki exclaimed. "Now why didn't I think of that?"

"It is just something I used to do for the odd shaped presents." She said and smiled, wrapping a doll for Lucy.

Loki wrapped a stuffed cat with kittens in a basket for Aleta. The mother cat purred when the kittens were beside her and meowed when they were away from her.

"That is a darling toy." Mandy said smiling at it.

"I would have liked this," Loki admitted. He touched the cat's head and it moved its head against his hand.

"As would I have. Want me to make a paper bag for that?"

"Sure." He held out the toy.

She fashioned the bag, tying it off and curling the ribbon into pretty shapes.

"That looks very elegant," Loki said and wrote Aleta's name on the tag and "From Daddy" below her name. He then picked up Vince's Agent of Asgard graphic novels to wrap.

"I do try. I used to do all this by myself, less children though."

Loki knew Mandy had two children, a son and a daughter. Her daughter, Iris, worked in Scotland and ran a bed and breakfast in a small town there. Since Christmas was their busiest time, Iris couldn't afford to come home to visit for the holidays. And Mandy was afraid of flying.

"Whether it's two or nine, doesn't really matter. You do it out of love and that's its own reward," Loki replied. "I love watching their little faces light up when they open their presents."

"That is always the best part. I could never wait to see them so happy." Mandy said and laughed.

"I feel so delighted watching them be surprised when they open their gifts. Especially when I find something like this that was totally unexpected."

"Every time dear. Where did the tape go?"

Loki looked about. "It . . . it was just here a minute ago . . ." he picked up the paper and looked beneath it.

"The scissors are gone too."

"What the Hel is going on?" he muttered, kneeling down to look under the table. But they were not on the floor. Frowning, he turned to peer beneath the bed. "I didn't hear them fall," he called, giving Mandy a great view.

"I... don't know." Mandy said, looking over her glasses. "How are you still single?"

Loki slowly backed up. "I . . . uh . . . don't really have time to date," he replied, not realizing she was staring at a certain part of his anatomy. "Why? You have someone in mind?" he teased, standing up and turning around.

"If I were fifty years younger and single, dearie, I'd have married you myself," Mandy chuckled.

"Really? Well, thank you." Loki said, flushing slightly. Of course she doesn't know you're not even human, he reminded himself. Yet somehow he had a feeling that wouldn't have mattered to Mandy.

"You will find someone. And I will warn them not to break your heart."

He chuckled sadly. "You can't break what's been broken, darling."

"But you may find that special someone who will help you fix it." She shot back, smiling.

He shrugged. "I highly doubt that but . . . whatever will be, will be," he replied. He peeked behind the roll of wrapping paper. "Ah ha! I found the scissors."

"Now we just need the tape." She replied. "You are too young to be so jaded."

"I feel old," he replied, keeping himself from laughing by sheer willpower. _Oh Mandy darling, if only you knew!_

"Here is the tape." She said and held it up. "I am going to bet you a million dollars you meet a nice lady that makes you go head over feet in the next two years."

His eyebrow climbed into his hair. "You sure you want to make that bet, Lady MacAllister?"

"I do. Two years, and I will accept a check."

He threw back his head and laughed, the sound echoing joyfully through the room. "It's a deal!"

"Good. And don't you go telling her to shoo when you meet her!"

"Now would I do that?" he queried innocently. "My mother taught me how to treat a lady before I was old enough to go to school."

"She sounds like a smart woman. Let's get these finished."

"As you wish, my lady," he said obediently, and gave her a court bow.\

"None of that now. We need to make some children happy."

Loki smiled and handed her another present to wrap, this one an iPod for Hunter.

It came with an extra charging cord, headphones, and a case with a wolf upon it.

"He will like this." Mandy said, wrapping the gift.

"Yeah, he broke his old one a few months ago and I didn't get him a new one right away so he would learn some responsibility about taking care of his things. So I figured now was as a good a time as any to replace it."

"I am sure he learned." She said, trying to wrap another gift, the kitten hopping in her way. Mandy smirked, cutting the paper and wrapping the kitten. She laughed, sticking a bow between her ears.

"Aww! A Gift of Mischief!" Loki chuckled, picking up the cat.

"Why did she do this?" The kitten mewed.

Loki scratched her behind the ears and meowed at her. "Because you keep getting in our way. We're trying to wrap presents for the kids."

"I just want to help." She purred back, shaking her head to dislodge the bow.

He gently placed her on the bed, purring in return, "You can supervise from here, kitling. That will help me best."

"All right," she agreed, curling her tail about her paws.

"I'm surprised you did not take a picture." Mandy said and laughed.

"I left my phone downstairs," Loki admitted.

"That could be dangerous. An unattended phone with a house full of kids."

"It locks once I stop using it. So no worries. Let's finish up here."

"Bossy." She tisked, still laughing.

"No, that's my brother. He's always trying to tell me what to do. That's what happens when you're the youngest," Loki said.

"That's the downfall of always being the baby. But he respects you, Loki. At least from what I've seen."

"Now he does," Loki acknowledged.

They finished wrapping the presents and then heard Aleta calling them for lunch.

"Just in time," Loki said, and helped Mandy downstairs.

"So, what's for lunch, Reindeer Games?" Tony asked upon seeing Loki.

The God of Mischief frowned.

"Just kidding!" Iron Man joked. "We made soup and sandwiches."

"And you didn't burn down my kitchen? Now _there's_ a miracle!" Loki shot back.

Tony laughed. Then he said in a stage whisper, "We won't mention when the dishtowel caught fire."

Loki rolled his eyes. "You reprogram my smoke alarm, Stark?"

"Uh . . . kind of. Now when it goes off because you've burnt something you can shout "Just cooking!" and the fire department won't show up."

"Now that's a real genius!" Mandy giggled.

"I do try," Tony said modestly.

"What were you doing up there, Daddy?" Mex asked.

"We were wrapping up the books for tonight." Loki answered.

"And Mischief was being . . . Mischief," laughed Mandy as the kitten trotted into the room.

After lunch, all of the Avengers except Thor left to go back to the mansion or to spend Christmas with their family, in Clint's case. They would be back tomorrow for Christmas dinner. Mandy also said she needed to go back home to see if her daughter or grandchildren had called, as she had left her phone at home.

"Thank you for helping me with the gifts," Loki told her. "We're having dinner tomorrow at six. So just come over."

"I will, dearie. Now you all have a Merry Christmas." Then she walked back over to her house with Mystic, her small Pomeranian.

"Would you like me to light the Yule log in the fireplace, brother?" Thor asked.

"That would be great, Thor."

While Thor went to light the Yule log, Loki summoned the books from his room and placed them beneath the tree. "No opening these until after dinner," he told the children.

"Dad, do you think it will snow?" Nate asked.

Loki looked out the window. The sun was up, but the air felt too warm to snow. "It doesn't seem like it, Racer."

All the kids groaned.

"Aww! I wanted it to be a white Christmas!" Vince frowned.

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know . . ." Serena warbled.

"Where the treetops glisten, and children listen," Lucy sang.

"To hear sleighbells in the snow," Loki finished.

"Is there any chance we might get snow?" Sam queried.

"Doesn't look like it," Belle sighed.

"So we're gonna have a green Christmas again?" Hunter scowled. "Bah humbug!"

"They gots a green Christmas in Hawaii," Aleta announced.

"How do you know that, spark?" asked Serena.

"Cause it's in the song," her little sister explained. Then she began to sing Mali Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day."

"That's the island greeting that we bring to you from the land where palm trees sway," Max added.

Hunter clamped his hands over his ears. "Nooo! Not _that_ song again!" he moaned dramatically.

"You really are a Scrooge!" Belle said, rolling her eyes.

"Let's sing songs about snow," Lucy suggested. "Then maybe the weather will get in the mood."

So for awhile, the house was filled with singing every song containing snow that the children knew.

Finally they ran out of songs and went to play video games and board games, leaving Thor and Loki to read and nap before the Yule log.

After a delicious dinner from Antonio's, with Thor's favorite smothered steak, Loki decided it was time to start opening the gifts of books they had all gotten. The family all gathered in the den around the tree and Thor and Loki handed each child a wrapped present with their name on it.

There followed a frenzy of unwrapping, where the air seemed filled with pieces of wrapping paper and exclamations of "Awesome!" and "This is so cool!" and "I love this book!"

Belle came and handed Loki and Thor two wrapped books and said, "Merry Jolabokaflod!"

"Thank you, little raven." Loki grinned at her.

"Thank you, Belle." Thor replied, taking the wrapped gift and examining it.

Loki opened his book first. "Pillars of the Earth, how lovely! I've been wanting to read this for awhile."

Thor tore his open with glee. "Minnesota Vikings Trivia. Now _this_ I will read!" he exclaimed. It was a book all about his favorite football team.

"Cool, Uncle Thor," Hunter said. "We need to watch a game together."

"Maybe your dad will let you come to Minnesota next time they have one." Thor said, winking at Loki. One of Hunter's presents was tickets to a game with Thor. The Vikings stadium was built to look like an Asgardian temple. Or rather what mortals thought one had looked like.

"Dad, that would be so cool!" Hunter begged.

"We'll see, wolfling. Do you like your book?"

"Yeah, it's awesome." He held up his wolf mythology book.

"Hey, Dad, where's the chocolate?" Vince demanded.

"I knew that was coming," Loki chuckled. "I'll hand out the chocolate in a bit. It's a certain amount, so don't gobble it down all at once."

"What? You mean we can't eat the whole box?" Vince cried in dismay.

"No way, daredevil! I am not having nine kids with sugar highs at this time of night. Or throwing up," the God of Mischief said.

"Aww man! What are we getting, two pieces?" his son grumbled.

"Wait and see. And quit pouting."

"Yeah or else Santa won't come!" the toddlers chorused.

Loki had carefully portioned out all the chocolate he had purchased, including some of the sugar free variety. He had made his own hot cocoa, using Splenda and peppermint sticks and small Christmas tree marshmallows.

He now summoned the small drawstring bags with each child's name on it, as well as mugs with their names and a picture of something they enjoyed doing. Belle had books and a cat on them with her name. Vince had Tony Hawk, Hunter had a wolf howling, Lucy had a Valkyrie on her horse, Sam's had butterflies, Nate's had Mario Andretti, Serena's had fairies, Max's had the Cat in the Hat, and Aleta had a kitten popping out of a present. Loki's, of course, had "I Do What I Want" on it and Thor's was extra large and had Mjolnir on it spitting lightning.

The kids began opening their bags, finding assorted kinds of chocolate inside.

"Where's our chocolate, Loki?" Thor asked.

"We get these," Loki summoned two boxes of Christmas Godiva. "Now don't you dare eat it all and then steal mine, Thor!"

"Hey, you get to eat the box?" Hunter cried.

"I won't eat it all," Loki answered. "But I'm the dad, I can do what I want."

"I can't wait till I'm grown up," Vince said.

"Enjoy your childhood, nephew," Thor said softly. "Thank you, Loki."

This prompted the children to all hug and thank their father.

"There's hot cocoa in the carafe on the dining room table with peppermint straw sticks," Loki told his family.

They all ran to get some and Loki had another carafe just for him and Thor.

"Now, shall we read?" the Mischief God asked.

The adults took turns reading to Aleta and Max while they ate chocolate and drank cocoa. Then the small ones fell asleep on Loki and Thor, leaving the elder Asgardians free to read their own books.

Loki was about a quarter of the way through Pillars when he looked up and saw seven of his children wearing their pajamas inside out with dabs of toothpaste on their noses. "Uh, what by the Norns are you all doing?"

"We're trying to make it snow on Christmas!" Vince announced.

"By wearing your pajamas inside out and putting toothpaste on your nose?" Thor asked.

"We used to do it at the orphanage all the time." Sam said.

"Yeah," Hunter said.

"That's not how it works," Loki said,

"We used to do it at the orphanage all the time." Sam said.

"Did it work?" Thor asked.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Sweet Valhalla, Thor!"

"One time it worked," Hunter recalled. "So maybe it will this time."

Loki thought for a few seconds when he looked at the kids and smiled.

"Sam, please take Max," Loki said and Sam lifted Max off of him. Loki walked to the door when he opened the door and looked around. He walked to the center of the sidewalk when he closed his eyes and held his arms out. He concentrated on the water vapor in the air then changed into his Jotun form. He tilted his head back as he opened his eyes and looked up at the dark sky. He released some of his magic when snow suddenly started falling around him and spread out over the neighborhood. He didn't want to strand his neighbors in their homes so he controlled just how much snow fell and the Artic wind blew through his hair.

What he didn't know was the snow was falling all over the state of New York, most of New Jersey and the northeast of Pennsylvania.

He lowered his head when he turned and saw the kids and Thor on the porch. Max and Aleta had woken up and they were all dressed in their coats, hats, gloves, boots and scarves.

"Cool!" Vince said as they headed down the stairs and Loki smiled.

Then he shifted back so no one would see his frost giant form. "There's your white Christmas!" he announced, laughing as the snow drifted down on to his hair.

The kids hugged him as Thor watched him playing in the snow when a snowball hit him in the face.

"Loki!" Thor grumbled, wiping the snow from his face.

"Wasn't me!" Loki said, grinning. Sighing, Thor ran down the stairs and scooped some snow into his hands.

"Uh-oh!" Sam said as Thor slammed the snowball in Loki's face.

"Now we're even, brother!"

Loki smirked. "You think?"

The next minute snow swirled all about the Thunder God burying him up to his neck. Loki summoned a scarf and draped it around Thor's neck. "Look! It's Thor the snowman!"

"Loki!" Thor yelled.

Then the air was filled with laughter upon the snowy Christmas Eve night.

Thor exploded from, his snowy cocoon and tackled his brother, prompting the kids to all chase each other through the swiftly falling snow, until at last Loki called a halt, saying they needed to all get to bed before Santa came.

The kids all filed inside obediently, not wanting to risk losing their Christmas presents.

Once all the kids had been tucked into bed by their father and uncle, the two brothers went to sit by the fire and read, quietly munching on chocolate until they too dozed off.

Until Loki was awakened by the sound of sleigh bells tinkling and something pawing the roof!

 **A/N: So who is on the roof?**


	6. A Very Merry Mischief-mas!

**6**

 **A Very Merry Mischief-mas!**

 _A very merry Yule and Christmas to all! ~ Loki_

Loki quietly got up when he headed for the front door and Odin followed him.

"Papa, there is something on the roof," Odin whimpered and Loki hushed him. Opening the door, Loki changed into his Jotun form and walked outside. The pawing sound grew louder as he looked at the roof and blinked.

"What the Hel?" he whispered and used his powers to rise off the ground. He landed soundlessly on the roof when he saw someone heading for the chimney and the large sleigh with what appeared to be a large horse harnessed to the sleigh. He recognized the sleigh and the horse as he smiled and silently walked closer.

"Hello, Sleph," Loki whispered to his oldest son and the horse turned his head.

"Father?! Why aren't you sleeping?" Sleph asked.

"I was until I heard you land on the roof.," Loki said.

"Sorry about that. It's a little slippy up here."

"Why are you here?"

"I'm just doing what I always do this time of year."

Loki thought for a few minutes when he thought of something and his eyes widened. Odin was the one who brought toys and gifts to everyone on Asgard during the Yule, but was he...?

"Loki, why aren't you sleeping?!" Odin asked as he headed for the sleigh and Loki looked at his father. Odin was dressed in ice blue clothing lined in white fur, an ice blue long coat, ice blue leather boots and an ice blue hat lined with white fur. He placed the large sack in the back of the sleigh as Loki blinked and changed into his normal form.

"I was sleeping until I heard you land on the roof," Loki said and Odin smiled.

"Ah," he said with a nod. "You always were a light sleeper."

"Father, are you...? Are you the one the people of Midgard call "Santa"?"

"Yes, but they call me by other names besides that one."

"And you use my son to pull the sleigh?"

"Well, I used to use Thor's goats, but Sleph was able to cover more homes and was faster."

"And I don't mind, Father," Sleph said.

Loki was stunned.

He shook his head as if he wasn't sure if he was dreaming.

"Are you alright?" Odin asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just Aleta asked me if Santa was magic and, I guess, he is," Loki said with a grin.

"Well, I hate to cut this short, but I need to go."

Nodding, Loki lowered himself to the ground when he looked up and watched Odin, Sleph and the sleigh lift off the roof. He watched the sleigh vanish after he heard a loud "Ho-ho-ho!" and he smiled, going back in the house.

He was very curious to see what his father had left for his children.

Loki summoned the presents he had bought and wrapped with Mandy and placed them beneath the tree, next to several presents wrapped with green, ice blue, and gold trim with bows that glittered like new fallen snow. Those bore a tag which said, "From Santa."

He walked over to the mantle to check the Yule log, which was still burning, and saw all the stockings had been filled also. To his shock he saw a green stocking with "LOKI" on it and a red and blue one with "THOR" hanging beside his children's.

He turned and saw the plate of cookies and the glasses of coconut milk and Yule mead beside them were empty and a note with the words _Thank you they were delicious!_ upon the plate.

Smiling, Loki went and took his new book to bed, where he fell asleep soon after snuggling into his blanket with the kitten on the pillow. He was awakened Christmas morning by two scamps screaming at the top of their lungs, "WAKE UP, DADDY! IT'S CHRISTMAS!"

"Norns," he sighed as Mischief dived off the bed and ran out of the room. The door opened as Max and Aleta ran to the bed and hopped onto the mattress.

"Come on, Daddy!" Max said, pulling on his hand.

"Get up!" Aleta said, moving the bedding down.

"Go fetch my robe and slippers," Loki said as they got off the bed and ran to get his green flannel robe and green slippers. After he got dressed, he took their hands and they left the room.

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP!" Aleta shouted and the bedroom doors opened.

"What time is it?" Sam asked, scratching the top of her head.

"It's a little after eight," Loki said with an apologetic look.

"Too early," Serena said as she turned to go back to bed, but Belle turned her back around.

"Let's go downstairs!" Max shouted.

"I need to get Nate up first," Loki said.

"I'm up," Nate said as he moved the wheelchair into the hallway and smiled at them.

"Come on!" Aleta said as she headed for the stairs and Max was right behind her. Sighing, Loki pointed with his hands and they headed down the stairs. Thor was waiting for them as he yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Merry Christmas, Brother," Loki said and Thor nodded. Loki had his phone in his robe pocket as he turned and removed the phone. The kids were on the top of the stairs as he nodded and used the phone to record them running down the stairs. He moved the phone to get Nate leaving the elevator then head for him and Loki lowered the phone.

"So, should we eat breakfast first or open presents?" Loki asked.

"Presents!" the kids said at once when a knock on the door made Loki turn and walk to the door. He opened the door to see Mandy and Mystic and he saw the sadness in her eyes.

"Merry Christmas, dearie," she said.

"Merry Christmas," he said, moving back so she could enter. He took her coat while Mystic ran to see Odin and Mischief and he placed the coat on the peg. "He didn't call?"

"No, but I brought my phone just in case," she said and he nodded.

"Merry Christmas, Missus Mandy," the kids said and she smiled.

"Merry Christmas," she said.

"We're going to open presents!" Aleta said.

"How nice," she said and looked at Loki. "Need help with making coffee and hot chocolate?"

"Yes," Loki said and they headed for the kitchen. "No touching any presents until we get back."

"Da-a-d!" they all groaned. "Hurry up!"

"Yeah, we're dying over here!" complained Hunter. He mimed collapsing to the floor.

Loki rolled his eyes. "No zombies on Christmas, wolfling. Resurrect thyself!"

Hunter sat up. "Can you please hurry?"

"Okay," Loki laughed. "But you know I need my coffee in the morning."

Loki put on the percolator to brew, but made himself a quick cup with his Keurig. Mandy began to boil some milk on the stove and filled each child's mug with two scoops of Loki's hot cocoa mix.

"Here," Loki said as he handed her a mug and she sipped on the coffee.

"Thank you," Mandy said.

After the coffee and hot chocolate was made, Loki pushed the cart into the living room and Mandy sat on one of the recliners. Mystic, Mischief and Odin sat near her as Loki looked at her and smiled.

"Da-a-a-a-ad!" came from the hallway and he removed his phone from his pocket.

"Come and get it!" Loki said. The sound of cheering and footsteps came from the hallway as he filmed the kids running into the room and their eyes widened.

"Whoa!" they all said at once.

"Wait for me!" Nate said as he entered the room and he smiled. "Wow!"

"He came! He came!" Aleta cried, jumping up and down.

"He ate the cookies and drank the milk!" Max said, pointing to the empty plate and glass.

Loki used the remote to turn the stereo on and Christmas music filled the room. He also checked to see if he had enough trash bags for all the wrapping paper then went to sit on the couch next to Thor.

Thor chuckled, watching the small child. "Reminds me of us when we were that age. Remember, Loki?"

"I remember. You and Balder use to almost trample me getting to the tree first," Loki recalled, laughing.

"And Mother would scold us, saying, Watch out for your brother, you hooligans!" Thor grinned.

"Remember the time the tree fell over? You and Balder stood there and yelled "Timber!"

"You got out of the way," Thor said with a laugh.

"Of course I did. You think I'm stupid?" Loki said.

Thor shook his head. Sam and Hunter helped Max and Aleta open their presents while the other kids opened theirs and Aleta yelped when she saw the Baby Belle doll.

"Daddy! Look!" she said, holding up the box. She got up as she ran to Loki and handed him the box. He carefully got the doll out of the box when he handed the doll to her and she hugged it to her chest.

He took a picture with his phone.

Hunter shouted with glee over his new iPod. "A new one! Thanks, Dad!"

"You're welcome," Loki said.

Max opened his present when he saw a pair of plastic Ironman gloves and mask and his eyes went wide.

"Wow!" Max said as he got up and ran to Loki. "Daddy! Look!"

"Wow, Imp, those look cool," he said and got the gloves and mask out of the box. He noticed Santa forgot the batteries as he opened the small drawer in the table next to the couch and removed the right batteries. After placing the batteries into the gloves, he helped Max put the gloves on and Max pushed the buttons. A soft whirring noise came from the gloves as he smiled then placed the face mask on top of his head.

"Your Uncle Tony is going to be jealous," Thor laughed.

"Yeah, " Max said when he pushed the face mask down and Loki took a photo. He looked at the screen then he sent a copy of the photo to Tony.

Mandy's phone rang and she jumped up and ran into the kitchen to answer it.

"Must be her grandkids or Iris," Loki mused.

Loki filmed the children for several minutes, until he realized he needed to charge his phone, then he plugged it in and set it down. It was then he recalled the two stockings at the end of the mantle. The children were still opening their presents under the tree, so he stealthily unhooked his and Thor's stockings and said, "Looks like Santa didn't forget us, Thor. And I know why."

Thor eyed his brother. "Loki, you have that _look_ in your eye. What do you know that I don't?"

"A lot." Loki twitted. "But seriously, let me tell you what happened last night." He then sent to his brother how he had discovered a sleigh with Sleph on the roof, and then found Odin dressed up as the Asgard version of Santa.

Thor's eyes almost bugged from his head. "It was really . . . him?"

"I swear by the Nine." Loki said solemnly.

"What are those?" he pointed to the stockings.

"Our Christmas stockings," Loki said, and handed Thor his. He couldn't help but notice they looked just like ones they had when they were boys in Asgard.

 _They probably are, Laufeyson_ , he thought. _You know Mother saves everything._

Thor, as was his wont, reached into his stocking immediately and pulled out . . ."Coal? Loki, this isn't funny!"

But the God of Mischief wasn't laughing. "I didn't do it!" he protested, In his own hand was another lump of coal.

He reached into the stocking again to see if there was anything else and his fingers encountered a piece of paper down near the toe. Pulling it free, he read, _Coal is actually a hidden treasure, for it is a diamond in the rough. Tap it to discover what's inside._

Thor groped in his stocking and found a similar piece of paper. "Loki, why would he give us coal?" he hissed. "I swear I was good . . . well mostly . . . unless you count the time I got drunk on Thanksgiving and sang that song about Lola's Lucious-err . . ."

Loki hit himself in the forehead. "Thor, you lummox! It's a joke!" He shook his head. "Oh Norns save me!"

He eyed the lump of coal. "A very clever one too." He grinned and tapped the coal against his end table.

The coal shimmered and cracked open like an egg to reveal . . .a large leatherbound spellbook with gold runes on a purple cover, a delicate lacy crystal on a gold chain, and a square casket of an ancient design. "Holy Valhalla!" Loki gasped.

"What is that?" Thor queried.

"The spellbook is one I've been looking for a long time-a few centuries. It's the Grimoire of the Wisdom Keeper. The crystal is one that a mage can use to dowse for anything-a lost pet or child, water, gems. And this-this is the Casket of Ancient Winters."

"The casket that Father had in his vault? That he . . . err . . . stole from Laufey?"

Loki nodded. "Yes, but now it returns to where it belongs-with me, who is heir to the throne of Jotunheim."

"A throne you've never claimed." Thor pointed out.

"Anymore than you have yours," Loki returned. "Regardless, this belongs to me, as the Prince of Jotunheim."

"True." Thor agreed. Then he tapped his and this time the coal split apart to reveal-a shiny new battle helm, with wings of gold on it and a hammer etched into the front. There was also a gold and silver flask with a rune on it. Thor opened it and smelled it. "Mead!" he cried in delight and drank some. "Mmm! Nothing tastes like Asgardian mead!"

The third object was a brooch for his red cloak-fashioned of silver and gold with a lightning bolt on it.

Loki examined the helm and said, "That's got some enchantments on it, brother."

"It does?"

"Yes. Mainly ones to prevent an enemy from spilling your brains out on the ground," Loki told him.

"What about the flask?"

"It's an ever full one." Loki replied.

"And the brooch is one that can heal a bad wound. Good for when you go fight again."

"What about when you go and fight?"

"Thor, my magic can do everything your helm, brooch, and flask can." Loki reminded him. "I have many enchanted objects like them. Father knows this."

"You're right. I keep forgetting you can kick ass and take names, Loki." Thor admitted.

"Damn straight, brother mine." Loki said. He sent the Casket of Ancient Winters to his lab and put the crystal about his neck. The spellbook he held, reluctant to let go of it. "Merry Christmas, Thor."

Thor saluted him with the flask. "Merry Christmas, Loki."

Loki picked up his cup of coffee and returned it. Then he set the mug down and hugged his brother. "This is a great Christmas. And there's more yet to come!"

The Yule log popped in the fireplace and Loki took that as the signal to go and put in the breakfast casseroles he had made, "Thor, please have the kids clean up the wrapping paper while I go make breakfast."

"Yes, Brother," Thor said and Loki left the room.

Once in the kitchen, Loki took out his two casseroles-one was a sausage, egg, and cheese one and the other was a pancake with bacon and apple one. There were two of each kind and he popped two in the oven, humming an old Norse carol. He swapped his robe and slippers out for his black jeans and green and white reindeer sweater Sam had gotten him last Christmas.

"Daddy, what is that song?" Max asked, his head to the side.

"That's an old Norwegian song about a merry mouse," Loki replied. He hummed a few more bars.

Max repeated the bars and Loki nodded. He taught Max the rest of the song and Max smiled.

"That's a neat song, Daddy," Max said.

"I always liked that song," Loki said. He noticed there were crumbs on the floor. "Go get the dustpan and the little broom, imp. You can help me clean."

"Ok," Max said and went to fetch the little broom and dust pan. He started sweeping up the crumbs when he started humming again and Loki went to check on the casseroles. "All done!"

"Thank you," Loki said and Max handed him the dust pan.

Loki emptied it into the trash. "Okay, these are nearly done. Then I'll put in the others."

"Can I help you with anything else?"

"No, I don't want you near the oven."

"Because I could get burned," Max said with a nod.

"Right," Loki said then removed a cookie from the tin. "Here is your reward for being such a big helper."

"Thanks!" Max said and ran out of the kitchen.

"Why do I have a feeling..."

"Daddy, where did Max get a cookie?!" Aleta hollered. Max ran back in the room as Loki handed him another cookie and Max ran back to the living room.

It sounded like the children were all happy about the gifts they had received, and Loki grinned. Then again, he had never known his children to not be happy on Christmas morning since he had adopted them.

He removed the casseroles from the oven then placed the second casseroles in and closed the door.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. Thor went to open the door and barked a laugh at the sight of Tony wearing a Santa's hat.

"Are you trying to be a jolly old elf this year, Man of Iron?"

"Only if I was drunk," Tony smirked.

"That is what Uncle Thor does." Aleta said, giggling.

"Little niece, must you remember everything?" the Thunder God groaned, thinking Loki had been right, as usual, when he said that toddlers were like elephants, they never forgot anything.

Tony gave him an amused look then walked by him.

"Clint said he'll be here later with his family," Bruce said.

"That is fine. He deserves to spend the day with them," Thor said, closing the door.

Loki appeared in the hallway when he saw Tony and his eyes widened.

"Have you changed headgear, Stark?" Loki asked.

"Don't laugh. I got one for you, too," Tony said as he walked to Loki and handed him a Santa hat.

"Go on, Brother. Put it on," Thor teased. Sighing, Loki placed the hat on and Tony took a photo.

"That's a really interesting sweater you have on, Reindeer Games," Tony remarked, looking at Loki's green and white sweater with the reindeer jumping up on it. "Looks like those reindeer are playing some rather naughty games."

"Tony!" Steve gasped.

"He knows I'm kidding."

"Oh, get your mind out of the gutter, Tony," Loki snorted.

"He can't. It's stuck there," Bruce teased,

"Poor Pepper," Natasha teased.

"Ha-ha," Tony said, rolling his eyes.

"Where is Pepper?" Loki asked.

"Off visiting her mom. She'll be here for dessert."

Nodding, Loki turned when he heard the oven timer chiming and looked toward the kitchen.

"The kids are in the living room" Loki said and they nodded, going into the living room, Loki went to check on the casseroles when he removed them from the oven and closed the door.

"Dad! I got new makeup!" Sam said, grinning.

"That's great, butterfly," he said, walking back into the living room. "Who was that from?" He swallowed sharply, thinking _first she has a boy over the house to bake cookies and now she has makeup._

"The tag said Santa Dad." She replied and smiled.

 _By the Nine, Father!_ Loki thought. _You're determined to give me gray hairs!_

"There are lip glosses too!" Belle said, pointing to the tubes.

"Gross!" Vince cried.

"Now Loki, don't go getting out your scepter just yet," Tony teased. "You can make the poor guy kneel and swear fealty to you after Clint and I background check him and threaten to tape his eyelids open and watch Teletubbies if he gets outta line."

"Is that before or after Thor breaks his legs?" Steve asked innocently.

"Thanks guys." Sam groaned, putting the set down and picking up another gift.

"What are Teletubbies?" Thor looked at Tony.

"A horror show, buddy." He replied.

"Dad, look at this!" Vince held up a snowboard. "It's the new aerodynamic model-the Snowmeister!"

Loki's eyes nearly fell out of his head. "Where did that come from?" Not only was that snowboard expensive as hell, it was also made for competitions.

"Santa brought it to me!" answered his son. "I can't wait to try it out."

 _I think Santa and I need to have a talk about appropriate Christmas presents,_ Loki thought. _Father, what were you thinking? How to give me a heart attack? What's next?_

"Dad! Look!" Nate said, holding up a top of the line computer.

"By the Nine!" Loki nearly fell out of his recliner. "That's better than _my_ laptop!"

"Dad! Santa got me the Lego Rapunzel's Castle!" Lucy cheered.

"Somebody shoot me!" Loki muttered.

"I got a toy piano!" Aleta cheered.

 _I'm running away from home!_ Loki thought.

He stood up when the timer on his phone beeped. "Okay, breakfast is ready."

Mandy returned from Skyping her grandkids, smiling. "It smells delicious, Loki."

"Thank you, Lady MacAllister," Loki said suavely and offered his arm to her.

She took it and they processed into the kitchen, where he seated her to the right of him at the table. Everyone devoured the food, exclaiming over how flavorful it was.

While Steve and Natasha washed the dishes, Loki returned to the living room to gather up all the trashbags with the paper and found Mischief inside of Nate's empty computer box.

"Is that your new bed?" he laughed at the black kitten.

"I like this, Papa," she mewed. "It's cozy."

Loki sent the trash into the pail in the garage, and was organizing things into piles when the doorbell rang.

When he opened the door he saw five little children on the other side with a smiling Mrs. Trainor standing behind them. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Laufeyson!"

"Merry Christmas! Are you going to sing for me?" he grinned.

"Go on, children!" urged Mrs. Trainor, who was the school chorus director. "Sing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas."

Loki listened, smiling, as the kids sang, then applauded when they were finished. He gave out small chocolate bars. Then the kids sang, "Up on the Housetop" and "Rudolph."

"Wonderful!" Loki clapped. "Would you like some hot cocoa?"

The kids all said yes, and Loki turned to get the to-go cups and his carafe of cocoa when he felt a small hand tug his leg.

He looked down and saw a little girl with adorable brown eyes and thick curly hair. "Hello, darling!"

"Are you Santa?" she asked softly.

"Well . . . uh . . ." _I'm his son,_ he thought.

"You have his hat on so's you are," she said then.

Loki knelt and she climbed up on his knee. "I'm Carol!" she told him.

Mrs. Trainor gasped. "Oh, Carol, honey, that's not—"

Loki waved her to silence. "I'm pleased to meet you."

"I wanna tell you what I want for Christmas," she lisped, and then leaned over and whispered, "My daddy can't come home for Christmas, cause he's a soldier over in the Middle East, but I wanna see him really bad, Santa. So that's what I want for Christmas."

Loki felt his heart melt into a puddle. _By the Nine, Laufeyson! You can't disappoint this little girl._ He thought quickly about what he could do to make this poor child happy and his facile brain came up with a solution.

He quickly wove two illusions, one was so Mrs. Trainor and the other children would only see what he wished them to, which was him telling Carol she would see her daddy soon.

But the other illusion was for the child alone. He saw in her memories what her father looked like in his uniform and then he cast a simple charm that made him appear in front of her as a hologram.

"Daddy!" the child shrieked, and went to jump off Loki's lap.

"No, hon. He's not really here." Loki explained, holding her. "It's a projection, like in the movies. But he can talk to you, darling."

"Hello, Carol." her father said, waving. "How you doing, baby?"

"Fine! I miss you!" Carol cried, waving and smiling.

"Miss you too, honey. Did you get my letters and emails?"

"Uh huh. But when are you coming home?"

"As soon as they say I can, darling. Then we'll do something fun together, okay?"

The little girl nodded. "Okay. Mommy and I baked cookies for you and we mailed them."

"I can't wait to taste them!"

"Will you be home by New Year's?"

"I sure hope so, darling. But if I can't come home then, you tell your mommy to give you a kiss from me. I love you, princess!"

"Love you too, Daddy!"

Loki blinked back tears and then wriggled his fingers, making the illusion solid for a moment, so it could "hug" the child.

"Merry Christmas, Carol!"

"Merry Christmas, Daddy!"

Then he made the illusion fade.

"I'm sorry, but my magic only lasts a little while," Loki told her. "But he'll be home soon."

She threw her arms about his neck. "Thank you very much, Santa!"

"You're so welcome, sweetie," Loki said, hugging her back.

He banished the illusion over the rest of the kids and Mrs. Trainor.

"Carol, sweetie, we have to be going," the teacher said. "We need to sing for some other neighbors."

"Okay," the little girl said, beaming happily. She climbed off Loki's knee. "Bye, Santa! I like you better without the beard!"

Everyone giggled, and waved at him before they went down the porch stairs.

"That was sweet of you, Loki," the chorus teacher said, giving him a pleased smile. "The poor thing really misses her dad."

"It's hard when kids and parents are separated on holidays. I was happy to help," he said sincerely. "Have a Merry Christmas!"

He watched as the children and the teacher marched through the snow and down the sidewalk, singing happily. He felt a warm glow in his heart thinking about the joy on the small girl's face when she saw her father. _I think the Norns will forgive me for that little white lie, since it was to make a child happy. I pray he comes home to her soon._

He turned to go back inside the house and nearly banged into Tony. "You were terrific, Reindeer Games. I don't know what you did, but whatever it was sure made that little kid happy."

"It was . . . just a bit of magic," Loki coughed.

Tony suspected it was more than just "a little bit" of magic. It was probably some high level magic that only Loki could cast because he was a master sorcerer. But he said nothing further except, "Time to tell Bruce to break out the eggnog."

"Just make sure you keep the one with the alcohol away from the children," Loki warned. "I had better start the turkey and the ham."

While Tony went to grab a glass of eggnog from Bruce, Loki went back into the kitchen to put the turkey into the roaster, the ham in the oven, and the other sides, like the asparagus au gratin on the counter to be put in when the meats were almost cooked.

The kids scattered to play with their new Christmas gifts, leaving Loki and Mandy to cook in peace. Natasha helped Vince learn how to use his new snowboard along with Thor, while Tony and Bruce helped Nate and Belle with their electronics.

Soon everything was almost ready and then the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Sam said, racing for the door. She opened the door as Peter smiled at her and she smiled back. "Hi!"

"Hi," Peter said then looked at his aunt. "This is my aunt, May Parker. Aunt May, this is Samantha Laufeyson."

"Pleased to meet you, ma'am," Sam said. "May I take your coats?"

"Yes. Nice to meet you." Aunt May replied, Sam shocked by how young she was.

Sam took their coats after they came inside and she placed the coats on the pegs.

"Dad! Peter and his aunt are here!" Sam called out and Loki walked down the hallway.

"Hello. Welcome to my home," Loki said.

"Hello." The unsurprisingly young woman said, smiling at Loki. "Peter did not tell me how tall you were. Do you have to raise the door way to get through?"

Loki chuckled. "I'm why this house has cathedral ceilings." He indicated the arching ceiling overhead.

Aunt May laughed when Thor walked in the hallway and she gasped.

"You're Thor!" she said and Peter rolled his eyes.

"Aunt May," Peter sighed.

Greetings," Thor said with a nod.

"You remember Sam's friend, Peter. This is his aunt, May," Loki said.

"I do. Hello Lady May."

"Sam, take Peter and his aunt into the living room. Dinner is almost ready," Loki said and Sam nodded.

The bell rang again and before Loki could move, the door burst open.

"Merry Christmas, Uncle Loki!" screeched four excited children as they raced into the house and swarmed all over the God of Mischief.

"Merry Christmas," Loki said as he hugged Cooper, Lila, Nathaniel Pietro and Nichole.

Presents!" Nathaniel said while pointing to the tree.

"Yes, presents. But we can't open them until after dinner," Loki said, picking up the toddler. Laura Barton came in as she sighed and gave him an apologetic look.

"Sorry," Laura said and gave him a small hug.

"It's fine."

"Hey, Nichole, wanna come and play with my piano?" Aleta said, coming into the hallway.

"Yeah!" Nichole said, running into the living room.

"May and Peter Parker, I would like you to meet my friend, Clint Barton, his wife, Laura, and these are his children, Cooper, Lila, Nathaniel Pietro, and that one is Nichole," Loki said.

"Hello," May said.

"Hi,"

"Hello," Clint said and Laura waved at them.

*Hi," Peter said.

"Aleta, come and say hello to Aunt May," Loki said as his daughter ran past.

"Hi!" Aleta turned and waved. "Nichole, there it is!" She pointed to the child-sized piano on the floor.

"Down," Nathaniel said and Loki placed him down. Nathaniel toddled after his sister and Aleta while Clint helped Laura off with her coat and placed the coat on the peg.

"Thor, please take Missus Parker and Peter into the living room and introduce them to the others while I finish dinner," Loki said.

"Yes," Thor said and he and Clint led everyone into the living room.

"Daddy, Little Nate is bugging us," Aleta said as Loki sighed and shook his head.

"Let him play with the piano, Spark," Loki said.

"He's just hitting the keys," Nichole said.

"Excuse me," Clint said as he walked by him and picked up Nathaniel.

"No!" the toddler cried as his father carried him into the room and Loki headed for the kitchen.

Odin trotted in from the backyard and Loki quickly wiped the snow off of him and said, "Go say hello, but no jumping!"

"Yes, Papa!" Odin woofed and then walked into the living room.

Loki set both the table in the kitchen and the long one in the dining room. The kitchen table was for the children. the other for the adults. Each place setting had a Christmas cracker on it. The adults had wine glasses, the children had sparkling cider.

Loki quickly carved up the turkey and ham and brought the platters into the dining room. Because there was so much food it couldn't all be placed on the table, so a lot of the sides were on the long buffet. There was chestnut and cranberry stuffing, the asparagus, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, fresh sesame seed rolls with butter and lingonberry jam, and corn fritters with maple syrup.

Loki had also made macaroni and cheese for the kids, since some of them loved to eat it, with a baked Ritz cracker crust on top.

He checked to make sure everything was ready when he went into the hallway and smiled.

"Dinner's ready!" he shouted. He backed away as the kids charged out of the living room then into the dining room and kitchen and the adults appeared in the hallway.

"Did a herd of wild animals just go by?" Tony teased,

"Looks like some animals escaped from the zoo." Loki replied.

Laughter filled the hallway as Clint and Loki went into the kitchen to get the kids settled and the others went into the dining room.

"Ok, guys, remember. This isn't home. No food fights," Clint reminded his kids and they nodded.

"But food fights are fun!" Max said.

"Maximus," Loki warned and Max frowned.

"Sorry, Daddy," he said and Loki ruffled his son's hair. Loki and Clint left the room then went into the dining room and Clint went to sit down.

"To family and friends, both old and new, may we all have happiness and joy in the coming year," Loki said and they clinked glasses.

"Is someone going to say grace?" May asked.

"I will," Mandy said, and they all said the blessing over the meal, though Loki and Thor silently asked the Norns blessing as well.

"Now, let's eat!" Thor said, and they all passed plates back and forth and rose to serve themselves from the dishes on the buffet.

From the kitchen came little popping sounds as the kids pulled their Christmas crackers and laughed at the silly toys and paper crowns inside them.

"Whoa! I got a new set of earbuds!" Nate said.

"There's candy in mine!" Max said.

Sam helped the kids put the paper crowns on when Loki and Clint walked in and Aleta grinned.

"Look, Daddy, I'm a princess!" Aleta said.

"Yes, you are," Loki said with a laugh.

"Me, too!" Nichole said.

"Both of my girls are princesses," Clint said.

Loki, Sam and Clint helped get the plates for the kids while Loki noticed Sam and Peter were sitting next to each other and he smiled at her.

"Da-a-a-a-a-ad," she whispered.

"Wha-a-a-a-a-at?!" Loki whispered and they giggled.

He noticed she was wearing one of her new lip glosses and murmured, "That color looks good on you."

"Thanks," she whispered and he swore she was blushing.

"Maccy cheese!" Nathaniel said as he patted the highchair tray and Clint placed the bib around his son's neck.

"Yeah. Yeah. Mister Loki made you maccy cheese," Clint said and Loki placed the plastic bowl in front of Nathaniel.

"T'ank you,"

"You're welcome," Loki said and handed him the small spoon.

The little boy practically dove into the bowl. "Yummy!"

"Slow down, Bud," Clint said with a laugh.

"Daddy makes the bestest mac n' cheese!" Max sang, eating his with gusto.

"It's better than Kraft," Cooper agreed.

"Yeah!" Aleta agreed while Nichole nodded.

"Thanks," Loki smiled. "If you want more just come and tell us."

Loki then noticed Sam and Peter talking in soft voices and blinked.

 _Knock it off, Laufeyson. They're just friends,_ he thought, sighing. Loki and Clint left the room as they went back to the dining room and sat down.

Loki happily filled his plate with the succulent honey glazed ham, turkey, stuffing, asparagus, and vegetables. He placed a roll with butter on the side of his plate and then looked at his guests. "How is everything?"

"Everything is delicious, Dear," Mandy said.

"Yeah! Great spread," Tony said when a knock made them look toward the front door and Loki got up. He walked to the door when he opened the door and Pepper smiled at him.

"Hi," she said.

"Hello. You're just in time," he said as she walked in and he helped her off with her coat. "Food's in the dining room."

Loki placed her coat on the peg as Pepper walked to the dining room and Tony smiled.

"There you are," Tony said as he got up and kissed her cheek after walking to her. "I thought you were coming later."

"I know, but Mom got a little demanding about when we were getting married and stuff like that. So, I decided I'd rather be here," she said and nodded to the others. "Hello."

"Hello, Pepper," Steve said. Tony made the introductions then Pepper went to get some food and sat next to Tony.

After everyone was finished eating, the kids went to the living room while the adults helped Loki clean up and Thor took Odin out for a walk.

"So, Reindeer Games," Tony whispered as he helped Loki carry some dishes into the kitchen. "Do you have anything to do with the snowstorm which covered all of New York state, some of New Jersey and some of northeast Pennsylvania?"

Loki thought for a few seconds when he sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I just wanted to make it snow so my kids could have a white Christmas," Loki whispered and Tony laughed.

"It's ok. Fury had the news call it a freak snowstorm."

"Good."

"Hey, do you mind if I take some ham and those corn fritters and that asparagus home?" Tony asked.

"Of course not. Go and get some plastic containers. Second drawer on the right in the pantry."

"I call dibs on the mac and cheese!" Clint said.

Once all the dishes had been washed and put away and the leftovers also, except what was being taken home, Loki suggested they play some party games. "I have Christmas trivia cards here and charades."

"Sounds like fun," Steve said.

"We doing teams or is it just asking questions?" Tony wanted to know.

"Let's do teams of three," Steve said.

Loki, Mandy, and May were on one team. Tony, Pepper, and Steve were another. Clint, Laura, and Natasha formed a third.. Thor, Sam, and Peter were four. Bruce, Hunter, and Belle were on the last team.

Loki took a pad of paper and wrote down all the teams and said, "It's a point for each question answered correctly. Whoever has the most points at the end of two hours wins."

"Tony, here's a card. You ask my team a question and if we get it right, then we get a point. If we get it wrong, we ask you a question." Loki said.

Tony took the card and read the first question. "What religion first celebrated the Yule season by decorating an evergreen tree?"

May frowned. "Well, the tree is called a Christmas tree but somehow I think that's too obvious."

"You're right," Loki agreed. "The Christians adopted the tradition from the Norse religion. The Norse pantheon was also worshipped by the Germanic tribes as well as the Vikings."

"You seem to know a lot about it, dearie," Mandy remarked.

"I do because my parents were mythology professors," Loki replied.

"So, what's your answer?"

"Our answer is the Norse religion," Loki replied.

"And you're . . ." Tony flipped the card over. "Right."

Loki's team high-fived each other. "We're off to a great start."

Tony turned to Clint's team. "Okay, how about this one? How many ghosts were there in A Christmas Carol? "

"Weren't there three ghosts?" Natasha asked. "The Ghosts of Past, Present, and Future Christmas?"

"Yes, but don't forget about Marley," Laura reminded.

"Laura's right," Clint nodded.

"Answer?" Tony asked.

"Four," Clint replied.

"That's right."

Tony passed the cards to Sam so she could ask his team a question. "What is the traditional drink made with mulled cider, brandy, and spices called?"

Tony looked at Steve and Pepper. "That's so easy! It's wassail."

"Trust you to know anything with alcohol in it," Steve laughed.

The questions continued, and points were won and lost. Loki's team asked Sam's, "Which country gifts the Christmas tree that is placed at Trafalgar Square in London according to tradition?"

"Do you know, Uncle Thor?"

The Thunder God shook his head. "I am afraid not."

"I think I know," Peter said. "It's Norway. I watched a special on TV once about English traditions."

"If you say so. Norway it is."

"That would be correct." Loki said.

"Way to go, Peter!" Sam cheered and Peter blushed.

"Here's one for you, Loki," Thor said. "What color Christmas did Elvis Presley have?"

Mandy grinned. "I know this one! I was around when that song first came on the radio."

"What is it, darling?" Loki asked.

"Blue Christmas, of course!"

Tony's team got the following question, "Which song's second line begins with, "Led by the light of faith serenely beaming?"

None of them could answer it. The same question was asked of the other two teams and they also got it wrong, Until May cried, "I know! It's "O Holy Night!"

The trivia game ended with Loki's team and Bruce's team tied for first. With the others close behind them.

Then Loki brought out dessert. There were the Christmas cookies they had all baked and decorated, there was Norwegian spiced cake, apple cake, and rice pudding with berries.

Coffee, tea, and eggnog, with and without alcohol were served also.

After dessert, Nathaniel tugged on Loki's sleeve. "Unca Loki, presents?"

"Yes, little imp. Now you can open your presents from me."

The kids were delighted with their presents. Lila and Nichole loved their Pomsies, adorable fluffy pom pom kitties that interacted with their owners with light up eyes, purring and sounds. Nichole got Kali, a calico one, and Lila a rainbow one. Cooper got an interactive BB8 and Nathaniel a Naptime Lion that played lullabies so the child would go to sleep.

"What do you say, kids?" prompted Laura.

"Thank you, Uncle Loki!" they all chorused.

"This is for you, Loki," Laura said, handing him an envelope. "Merry Christmas."

Loki opened the card and found a gift card inside to Ferrara's. "Thank you! And my sweet tooth thanks you too."

Laura laughed. "We'll be thanking you when we use that Delmonico's gift card, Loki." For that was what he had gotten Clint for Christmas.

Thor had given Loki and all his children tickets to attend a Viking's home game at their stadium. Loki had given Thor a season pass to all the Vikings games.

Tony and Pepper had gotten Loki tickets to the Game Expo over in LA.

Bruce and Natasha had given Loki Bacon of the Month—a subscription box of bacon, each month was a new flavor.

Loki had given Tony and Pepper a vacation for a weekend in the Caribbean, and Bruce and Natasha had gotten a similar package to a cabin up in Vermont.

Sam darted under the tree and picked up a square box and an envelope. "Dad, this is from us. Merry Christmas!"

Loki hugged her. "Thank you." He opened the envelope first. Inside was a card that said, **You Have Been Enrolled in the Coffee of the Month Club for 6 months.** "How very cool!" Loki exclaimed. "I will really enjoy that." He opened the box and found a green leatherbound photo album with the words _Remember When_ on it and underneath it _The Laufeysons 2018._ Inside were all kinds of photos of the children with Loki during the year. They were grouped according to things like "First Day of School", "Plays", Summer Vacation", "Holidays", "Birthdays", "Dad and Us", ect.

"We put stickers!" Max said.

Loki stared down at the album and the pictures suddenly blurred from the tears in his emerald eyes. He blinked them away, reminding himself, _There's no crying on Christmas, Loki!_ "This is wonderful!"

Suddenly he was surrounded by his children, and they all hugged him tightly.

"Didja like your present, Daddy?" Aleta asked, sitting on his lap.

"It was a great present, spark," he told her honestly. "But I have an even better one. Know what it is?"

She shook her head,

"All of you," he replied, and then he smiled so brightly that he lit up the room with joy.

"Maybe next year Santa will bring you a wife." Aleta said, giggling.

"Oh Lord." Natasha said, laughing.

The snow fell and turned the streets of the old city into a wintery wonderland, but there by the fire, the Prince of Asgard and his family, were all cozy and warm, their hearts full of love, and Loki hugged them all to him and thought in delight, _A very merry Mischiefmas to all, and to all a good night!_

 **A/N: Hope you all liked!**


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